<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>The River's Pull by MrSaturn</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/23239738">The River's Pull</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrSaturn/pseuds/MrSaturn'>MrSaturn</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Pocket Monsters SPECIAL | Pokemon Adventures, Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Anime), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon (Main Video Game Series), Pocket Monsters | Pokemon - All Media Types, Pokegirls</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Battle, Blood and Violence, F/M, Gen, Harems, Inspired by Fanfiction, Inspired by Parody, Inspired by Pokemon, Kemonomimi, Major Original Character(s), Minor Original Character(s), Multi, Original Character(s), Original Female Character(s) - Freeform, Original Fiction, Original Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-03-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-30</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-01 14:14:55</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>29,562</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/23239738</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrSaturn/pseuds/MrSaturn</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>It is often said that the flow of time is like that of a river; a constant stream that takes you ever onward, headless of the twists and turns that tried to impede it's progress. But even a river can split, separate into a new stream leading to new experiences. Such a split causes a young man to enter into the world of Pokegirls, not knowing what else the River's Pull has in store for him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Pocket Monsters | Pokemon/Original Female Character(s)/Original Male Character(s), Spike Spiegel/Tasogare no Suzuka | Twilight Suzuka, Tasogare no Suzuka | Twilight Suzuka/Original Male Character(s)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Tug</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Welcome, everyone, to my first Pokegirls story in well over a decade. For those who don’t even know what Pokegirls are… well, I hope this story is a good break down of what the general concept is. If it isn’t, the basic gist is this: Pokegirls is a sexual Parody based on Pokemon, where all the collectible monsters are instead sexy girls based of said Pokemon, though a VAST majority of the girls that exist today are either original in concept or pull from other sources. While the fandom has gone a bit more darker/edger for the sake of being taken more seriously, I’ve always enjoyed the concept itself for it’s parody routes, and for giving me a world based off my favorite game franchise mixed in with more adult themes and, of course, sex.</p>
<p>With having not written much if anything over the years, I thought the best way to really crack back into the Pokegirls Fandom was writing one of the more basic stories that was common during it’s heyday, which is to say a story involving someone with no knowledge of the world being pulled into it. This should both be giving me a good starting point in really getting back into writing, as well as allow anyone new to the fandom to really get a good understand of everything. Regardless, I hope you all enjoyed this beginning, and I hope to produce more of this story in a reasonable amount of time.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>“Is it done yet?” came the voice of his employer, growling in anxiousness and annoyance, from the shadowy corner of the dim lit room. So dark was his seat that it was doubtful that even most nocturnal Pokegirls would be able to make out the features of of the figure, other then perhaps that it was a male that sat there. All other features were hidden, making it impossible to tell just who was glaring down from that shadowy corner.</p>
<p>“No, it isn't done yet!” he growled in return to the obscured figure, glaring over at him in anger. The furious man was clad in a dark robe, obscuring his features just as much as the shadows did the other. Papers filled with magical runes and words originating from at least seven other languages littered the ground around him, all laid about before the large, glowing circle that throbbed with power before his feet. “You know for a fact that these spells are delicate procedures! A single wrong word, a single component out of place, and I could blow us up with more force than a damn Bombshell! Do you really want that to happen before you are able to get your revenge?!”</p>
<p>“Fine, fine!” The employer responded with a frustrated grunt, crossing his arms with such a furious motion it made him almost appear like a child that hadn’t gotten his way. He was anxious, the mage could tell, but what he had told the shadowy figure was fact. While a good deal of magic was simply gathering energy and focusing it towards the desired form; the magic he was attempting wasn't only a great deal more difficult, but was in a branch of magic that wasn't often employed in this fashion. It left a lot of guesswork on the mages part which slowed down the speed of his work even more. “Besides,” the spellcaster said, turning back to gauge the magic flowing through the markings before him, red with energy. “We don't even know if this is the right spell to fit our needs. The others were lacking in both control and power, if you'll remember.”</p>
<p>“Yes, brother, I know...” The shadow stated, the tone flat and uninterested, causing the magic user to raise an eyebrow. Rarely, if ever, did his employer reference their familial relations. He detested the magic user, working with him only because he needed the power and abilities that the mage offered. Outside of their dealings, the shadow had been adamant in stating he was an only child to anyone who would listen. “And the ones before that weren't even the right kind of spells!”</p>
<p>“I told you from the beginning that it would be like that!” the mage snapped, his patience wearing thin with his brother. It wasn't as if he was already risking possible injury messing with these spells, oh no, but his sibling had to <em>complain</em> about it as well! “If you wanted me to just throw a fireball at your enemies, we could be done with this ages ago. But no! You have to be all secretive and complicated like some kind of evil mastermind!”</p>
<p>“I want no ties of this to be traced back to me!” the shadow retorted with a raised voice before visibly restraining his emotions, a deep breath escaping him. With a step, the mages sibling came closer to the magic circle, his sharp face lit up by the light from the concentrated energies to make him look deathly serious to the younger brothers eye. The way the light hit him made his elder brother look quite villainous indeed, jet black hair that went down to his shoulders that blended into the inky blackness behind him, a near permanent sneer on his face. He'd be right at home in a horror novel. “I want my revenge, but I must do it without retaliation from the government. They'll already have me high on their suspect list when our deed is done, and I need to ensure there is nothing left that will convince them that I was the cause of it all.”</p>
<p>“And you'll get it. But only with time. We need the proper spell to do this job and we lack that almost in its entirety.” the mage said, his eyes meeting his employers. There was some hope from the magic user that his brother could see the dedication to finish this job, but the realities of the situation needed to be faced. “And even when we find the right one to fit our needs, we'll need to modify it, to change it to suit our purposes. You call for stealth, so you must wait for the right time to strike.”</p>
<p>The brothers kept their gaze locked for a few moments, before the elder of the two nodded, slipping back into the darkness once more. “You're right, you're right. I can't let my own desires get in the way of what must be done. Tell me, if this spell fails, what are the chances that the next one will be more in line with what will fit our needs?”</p>
<p>“Better, to say the least. We're in the right school of magic now, the problem is finding the right components and procedure. It should be a simple matter of trail and error.” the mage answered, glad that his employer was able to calm himself. It was that temper that had caused this entire mess in the first place, going as far as to make a spectacle of the entire ordeal. But his brother had learned his lesson well from that, and while some forceful reminding was needed once in a while, the elder of the two would try his best to ensure that he was never made subject to anyone's laws again.</p>
<p>“Good!” His brother said from his shadowy position once more, though the mage could tell that he was smiling. “Go as fast as you can without blowing us up, then, brother. Revenge may be a dish best severed cold, but I'd like to be able to eat it while I still have teeth.”</p>
<p>The mage simply nodded to his brother, his full attention moving to the magic circle before him as the power begin to build. The magics had finally began to meld together and it now required him to focus entirely on it. Muttering a few words, the spellcaster pushed his power forward. The circle hummed, energies swirling together before culminating into a bright light that blinded them both.</p>
<p>~oOo~</p>
<p>Waking up has never been easy for Austin. He always considered it a direct counterbalance to the fact that he had some of the worst cases of insomnia around, often staying awake till the wee hours of the morning until his exhaustion finally wore him down enough to fall asleep. This often left him not rising from his bed until roughly half way though the afternoon. He could take care of it, sure, and have a better sleep schedule, but it never really bothered him that much to be awake when most were asleep. The young man had also made several friends of like minds and sleep schedules, and it would make spending time with them a bit harder if he started to sleep normally. So when he found himself waking up with the cold air and the first light of the dawn, Austin was less than pleased.</p>
<p>Grumbling a bit in annoyance, the young male opened his eyes only to freeze. Instead of being greeted by the blue and white walls of his small bedroom, one of which he had lived in for at least the better half of a decade, he was instead surrounded by the tall, dominate sight of a redwood forest. White hot panic ran through his chest, shocking any remaining exhaustion out of his system. He moved slowly, green eyes roaming around the area he woke up in, trying to figure out just what happened. He paused in his analysis of his surroundings only once, realizing he was fully dressed in his traditional black shirt and sweats, his work shoes about his feet. <em>Worry about that later, figure out where I am now.</em> He told himself.</p>
<p>It was a small circular clearing that he found himself in, it's edges lined with bushes that obscured the roots of the nearby trees. Austin himself was in the center of the open area, resting in the middle of a stump, all that was left of the great redwood that had once claimed the spot. On the inside of the stump were odd markings, symbols that the young man didn't recognize carved directly into the wood, done in a perfect circle around him like something out of a cheesy horror movie.</p>
<p><em>Of course, a summoning circle from those movies would explain why I'm suddenly on the other side of the continent.</em>He thought, the young man discarding the thought immediately afterward. It wasn't exactly normal for him to have such thoughts, but his otherwise logical mind was hard pressed to think of how else he would end up here of all places. He just couldn't see anyone shoveling out the money to move him so far only to dump him off in some forest. Shaking off the thought for now and focusing on more productive efforts, Austin pulled himself out from the stump to start down the only open path he saw.</p>
<p>Wherever he was, the scenery was at least nice to look at. Other then the blasted stump he had woken up in, the trees about him stood strong and dormant, the tops reaching up to the sky. Austin was a little surprised the forest floor itself wasn't a bit darker, though. He'd thought that with the number of close nit redwoods that it would have prevented the sun from getting through as much as it was. Then again he had never considered himself that well versed in how forests worked. It was that line of thinking that brought his attention to the fact that it had suddenly gone very quiet, the sounds he had been hearing before vanishing in an instant. He could never remember if that was a good thing or a bad thing when that happened.</p>
<p>The sandy haired male answer came with a loud, angry hiss from behind him. He turned, slowly, and found it's source to be from a creature stepping right out of ancient mythology. She resembled a naga, her lower half being all serpent with blood red scales that slithered against the forest floor. Her upper half was all woman which, in any other circumstance, would have Austin likely staring as her full breasts were completely exposed to the air. Blood red eyes, slitted like a snakes, glared at him with burning hatred. “Uh… Hi?” the young man said, trying to put on a friendly face.</p>
<p>The snake girl let out another angry hiss, sharp fangs being exposed as she dived towards him, arms stretched out and forming claws. Austin let out a bit of a yelp as he stumbled backwards, falling onto his ass and saving himself from the nasty attack, the girls claws striking the tree behind him instead. A heavy crunching came from the tree, the young man looking up to see that the girl had taken three huge chunks of the thick bark out in that single swipe. It was all that it took to convince Austin to escape,the young man near tripping over his own to feet to get out of the angry snake girls path.</p>
<p>Acid landed before the young man the moment he turned about, Austin recoiling just in time to prevent his hand from being reduced to nothing more then a pile of goop. Instinct screamed at him, making the young man roll to the side and sparing him the claws of the snake which sunk into the ground like it was water. The extraction wasn't anywhere near as smooth as the plunge in, the monster having to tug her arms a few times to wrench herself free, allowing the sandy haired male to scramble to his feet and break into an all out run away from the creature.</p>
<p><em>Ok, so maybe that WAS a summoning circle and I got pulled into some damn horror flick. </em>Austin thought as he ran for all he was worth, darting left and right through the trees in hopes that he'd lose the half girl behind him. <em>Nothing else freaking explains why I've got a damned naga on my tail!</em> The young man let out a curse as a glob of acid hit the tree beside his head, melting away the bark in moments. He turned his head as much as he dared at his speed, eyes widening as he saw the girl swerving through the trees easily, closing the distance between the two. <em>Oh, hell, she's faster then me!</em></p>
<p>The young man's next thought was cut off before he could even begin thinking about it as the long, serpent tail of the Naga lashed out before him, the sandy haired teen unable to stop himself from running over it at his full tilt. He bit back another curse when his shoulder hit the ground, his speed causing him to spiral out, tumbling over and over again before his back slammed against another tree in the dense forest. “Damn...” he growled out, wincing in pain.</p>
<p>The snake woman slithered up before him, a dark grin crossing her face, her breasts only just barely heaving from the exertion of the chase. Such motions would be quite enjoyable to the young man had he not been certain that he was about to die. A growl escaped his lips as he tried, and failed, to stand once more thanks to the burning pain that lanced through his chest. There was going to be no running anymore from the Naga. Austin watched as the mouth of the girl distend, fangs showing and glistening with what he could only assume was poison. He could only close his eyes, waiting for the serpents strike to end his life.</p>
<p>Instead of the eternal blackness or the chorus of angels that he expected to see next, a huge hiss of pain forced the young mans eyes opened. Glancing upward Austin saw that the Naga was now cradling her left arm, a long, thin line of blood dripping down to the ground. The snake girl had turned away from him now, glaring at her new foe. The young man's eyes followed the serpents glare, finding another woman standing not ten feet away from the two.</p>
<p>She was slender, a single thin arm laying across her belly, hand resting on what looked like a sword. She was dressed in what appeared to be the tattered remains of a robe, the edges frayed to the point that one could pluck a string from the very edge of it and unravel the whole piece. Her hair was a raven black, done up in a style that looked like she needed a tub of styling gel to get it into such a look, twin tufts of slender bangs arching out on either side of her face, even more hair tied in a pony tail which disappeared behind her back. Brown eyes glared at the red of the serpent, lips twisted in a grimace. “Get… away...” the sword woman snarled, her voice thick.</p>
<p>Unexpectedly, the Naga did just that, slithering apart from the downed male. But instead of leaving, she instead turned onto the newcomer, her lower body weaving back and forth as she charged towards the sword wielder. The dark haired woman remained still, eyes never leaving the charging half human, her fingers gripping around her weapon. Austin struggled to rise, to yell out some warning to the woman, but couldn't seem to force the words past his lips.</p>
<p>Tail lashing out behind her, the Naga's hands formed once more into those dangerous claws, aiming to tear out her foes throat. The newcomer waited til the last moment, her eyes following the charging snake before she leaped off to the side, avoiding the attack of the charging female. With a single stroke, the wooden blade cut deep into the serpents side, a thin line of flesh being gouged out of her scaly hip. A shriek of pain erupted from the Naga's mouth, clutching at the bloody wound with murder in her eyes. Those slit pupils turned, however, to the wooden blade edged with blood before her and hesitated.</p>
<p>“<em>Go.</em>” The sword woman growled once more, her weapon steady in her hands. “Final… Warning...”</p>
<p>With one more angry hiss, eyes never leaving the weapon that had so wounded her, the Naga retreated back into the surrounding forest, trailing a bright red line of blood in her wake. It was only once her foe was out of sight that the raven haired woman finally lowered her guard, dropping her sword arm. Laying the blade flat before her, she pressed it to the grassy ground, whipping the blood off in a few soft strokes before sliding it back in the worn shaft of her robes. She approached Austin slowly, kneeling before him and offering her left hand. “You… Ok?”</p>
<p>“Y-yeah.” the sandy haired teen said, wincing as he was pulled up the swords woman, his side still throbbing with pain. “What in the hell was that anyway?”</p>
<p>“Sideviper.” the woman commented, her eyes turning to where the snake girl had left, almost as if half expecting the her foe to return to attack. “Dangerous.”</p>
<p>“No shit.” Austin grunted, shaking his head. “You wouldn't happen to know someplace safe where miss fangs wouldn't be able to follow, would you?”</p>
<p>“Follow.” she responded, turning from him and walking further down the path that he'd chosen at the start of this whole mess. <em>Well,</em> Austin thought. <em>A</em><em>t least it's good to know had I not run into the… Sideviper thing I would have been on the right way to get some answers.</em></p>
<p>It took them a little over half an hour to finally get out of the woods, but thankfully there was no return of the Sideviper to bother them nor any other creature that might live in the forest. Austin use the word 'creature' in his mind, unable and unwilling to even think about what other beings could exist if a Naga like monster was normal enough to have a proper name. They didn't seem to be common enough to be be a consistent threat, thankfully.</p>
<p>“Here.” the sword woman spoke as the trees finally parted way before them, the forest turning into an open field. She pointed down the well worn path, at the end of which was the sight of squat, brown buildings off in the distance. “Safe.” she intoned before turning away from him, heading back towards the woods.</p>
<p>“Woah, hey, aren't you going with me?”</p>
<p>She turned back to him at the question, shaking her head, face twisted in a grimace. Her fingers also clenched a bit harder around the hilt of her weapon, as if afraid someone would steal it the moment her guard was down. “Dangerous… for… me...” she said haltingly. It was only then that Austin had noticed the odd pattern in her speech. At first, he thought that anger or the battle made the warrior woman before him limit what she said. Now, though, it appeared more like she was struggling to even say the words, almost like she had just recently learned them.</p>
<p>“Are you sure?” Austin pressed, concern flooding through him. Even though she had already shown that her skill with the sword was more then enough to protect her from what ever dangers would be roaming the forest, the sandy haired young man couldn't help but feel there was something wrong about the woman before him. Between the way she talked, her worn and thread bare appearance, and the way she seemed to think civilization was a danger, all of it seem to scream to him about someone who needed help.</p>
<p>“Yes.” she responded, starting back into the woods. The woman turned to him just as she reached the first tree, however, a small smile forming onto her face. “Stay… Safe.” she said softly before slipping past the nearest tree and disappearing from sight.</p>
<p>Austin could only shake his head, still feeling more then a little worried for the woman. It was then that the young man reminded himself that he wasn't exactly in the most productive position himself. Turning to the small town before him, the sandy haired male took a small breath before heading into the unknown.</p>
<p>~oOo~</p>
<p>It was still early morning by the time Austin had made his way into the town proper, the sparse and unkempt buildings with no real rhyme or reason to them marking as the outskirts. A few other humans were milling about in the early morning light, none of them looking anywhere near awake. The young man knew he'd be among them were it not for the rather terrifying morning.</p>
<p>He started moving towards the closest among them to ask directions to the police station when the guy pulled out a small ball from his jacket and opened it. In a bright flash of white light, a figure took the shape of what Austin could only say was a centaur. The lower half of the creature was that of a strong looking horse, with powerful legs and cream colored fur. Her upper half, though, was all woman and just as naked as the Sideviper in the forest, breasts completely exposed to the morning air.</p>
<p>The sandy haired male watched as the half woman knelt down on all four of her horse legs, allowing the man to climb up her back. He wrapped his arms about the centaurs middle, one hand sneaking up to cup and fondle her breast to which she responded with a sound of pleasure, before lightly pressing into her side with his heel to send the pair off down the street.</p>
<p>“Ok, so either this entire world is filled with fantasy creatures or I've officially gone off the deep end.” Austin muttered to himself, shaking his head as he tried to get his mind around the idea. He didn't think he had gone crazy, but then it would be hard to tell wouldn't it? <em>Note to self, never watch Sucker Punch again.</em></p>
<p>“Oy, Kid!” yelled a rather thick set man to his right, nearly making the sandy haired teen jump out of his skin from the sheer volume.“Ya alright? Ya look a little lost!”</p>
<p>“Uh, yeah, just a little off balance.” Austin replied, blinking a bit and rubbing his forehead. “I think I might need to see a doctor or something, you wouldn't happen to know a place nearby I could be checked at?”</p>
<p>“The center is about a good half a mile down the street that way followed by a left turn for another half mile. Ya can't miss it after that.” The man said, looking up into the air and drawing the directions before him as if a map of the area appeared before him. He turned then to Austin with a small grin. “Just talk to the Joy at the front desk and she'll get you all sorted out. The woods there can take a bite out of anyone who isn't prepared."</p>
<p>“Thanks.” Austin called back, giving the thick man a small nod before turning down the pointed direction. He tried not to think why the guy had called the nurse by name, especially in conjunction to what he said about the woods. All that brought up to his mind was that he was more then lucky to have only met the Sideviper and the sword woman in the woods and nothing else.</p>
<p>With only a little bit of distraction from his overactive imagination, the sandy haired teen eventually found himself facing a small square building with a red top that had bright white letters that proclaimed it the 'Pokegirl Center'. Despite it not looking like any other hospital Austin had ever been too, he pushed forward past the sliding doors that served as the entrance.</p>
<p>“Hello, welcome to the Pokegirl Center!” The cheery faced, pink haired woman sitting behind the front desk said, smiling so wide that her cheeks dimpled. She gave a little bow to the sandy haired teen in greeting, which nearly caused Austin to sputter in shock, as the motion gave him a near unrestricted view of her cleavage. While not normally one to stare, the young male couldn't help but gape at both the size of her endowments-of which would have given near any man pause-but also the fact that she had a neckline plunging so deeply that it was an amazement that the bow hadn't caused her to pop right out of her top.</p>
<p>“Ah, buh….” Austin said with all intelligence, only just barely able to poke a finger towards the Nurse's breasts.</p>
<p>“Hmm? Oh! I'm sorry. I was just tamed a little while ago, forgot to button the girls all the way back up.” the Nurse tittered with a the smallest of blushes. Her fingers grasped the lowest of the clasps and wrestled it back into place, which only really served in pushing her breasts up and making them look all the bigger. The movement, however, was all that Austin needed to tear his eyes away from the sight, despite protests from both them and lower regions.</p>
<p>“Uh, yeah...” the teen said, blinking away the visions of flesh from his mind. “Um, could you tell me where I am, exactly?”</p>
<p>“Where you are, sir?” Joy asked, pink eyebrows knitting together in confusion. “What exactly do you mean?”</p>
<p>“I mean, what state or hell, country I'm in.” Austin clarified with a grimace. He hoped that his wild thoughts from earlier was just his imagination getting the better of him.</p>
<p>Such thoughts were dashed as the Nurse tilted her head, her confused looked shifting to concern. “We're in the Sunshine League, sir. In particular River Pass.” she told him, bright green eyes searching his face. “There hasn't been a state here in over a century or so, I believe.”</p>
<p>Austin gaped a bit at the woman before him, his head swimming with confusion. He had never heard of a place anywhere that had been called a 'League', at least not outside of something like Baseball. Taking a small breath, the young man sat down on a nearby chair before looking back up at the Nurse, who now looked very worried. “Tell me…” he said softly, trying to keep his breathing regular. “Just how far away is this Sunshine League from Chicago? It would be in Illinois.”</p>
<p>“Uh, sir?” the Nurse said, gritting her teeth a little as if what she was saying was painful. “There hasn't been an 'Illinois' for centuries.”</p>
<p>“What.” The young man said, his tone entirely flat and eyes wide, giving her a hard look. He must have heard her wrong.</p>
<p>“I'm serious, sir. Chicago, along with most of the rest of the world, changed face about three hundred years ago thanks to the war.” Joy explained, her tone like that of a mother teaching a child something that was common knowledge.</p>
<p>Austin couldn't help but fall back, pressed up against a wall as he tried to absorb this information. Everything changed about three hundred years ago? His home, hell, his country that he had lived in all of his life didn't even exist anymore? What kind of hell did he wake up in?</p>
<p>“You're not from this world, are you sir?” Joy said suddenly, breaking the young man out of his stupor. He looked up to see her concerned eyes, which narrowed a bit as she nodded. “Yeah, you're definitely an AUJ now that I look at you. How about you sit down over here and I'll call someone for you that will explain everything, alright?” The nurse looped her arm around his as she spoke, moving him over to a couch that leaned up against the far side of the main room.</p>
<p>Once Austin was sitting down, the pink haired woman moved back to the desk, picking up the phone. A screen lit up in front of her, showing a collection phone numbers, each one with a small face appearing beside them on the left. She selected the top most one, the screen flashing up a young man's face, one with rather curly black hair and serious eyes. She waited for a moment, the sound of a ringing phone echoing out throughout the room before the call was picked up, the man appearing on the other side.</p>
<p>“Ah, Dalaa, what's up?” He asked with a smile, gazing up at her through his camera.</p>
<p>“I'm going to need you to come in a bit earlier today, Cole.” The nurse said with a frown, her eyes moving to the Austin for a moment before returning to the image before her. “I think we've got an AUJ here at the Center. You know a bit more about all that then I do, so do you think you could come down and break all this to him? I don't think he'll be too accepting about things when he finds out what I am.”</p>
<p>“Right, I'll be there in a few minutes, then.” Cole replied with a sigh, hanging up the call a moment later.</p>
<p>Returning the phone to it's hook, the Nurse turned at Austin and gave him a small smile, nodding to him. “He'll be here shortly, so just sit tight till then. Would you like anything to maybe help calm you down a bit? Milk? Maybe some tea?”</p>
<p>“Uh, tea please. Peppermint, if you have it.” the lost teen said, still shaking his head. He still didn't have the foggiest clue what in the hell was going on, but it looked like all those comics he read that had the characters jumping between different universes had a bit more truth in them then he had ever thought. Dalaa smiled at him, giving him the smallest of bows, before sauntering off to get his tea.</p>
<p>~oOo~</p>
<p>Austin had gone through his third cup of tea by the time Cole had arrived to the Pokegirl center. He was a rather tall man, standing well over six feet tall and was fairly well fit to boot. The dark haired man scanned the room before his eyes fell on the lost teen, nodding his head. Stepping over to him, he put out a large palm in a hand shake. “I take it you're the AUJ that Dalaa called me about?” he asked, his tone friendly.</p>
<p>“Uh, yeah, at least that's what she called me. No freaking clue what it stands for though. The names Austin.” The sandy haired male replied, grasping and shaking the other man's hands. “She said that you could explain it a bit better then she could.”</p>
<p>“I’m Cole. And as far as explaining things, probably just a little bit. I've got a few friends who are AUJs and ever since the League realized that their numbers were only growing within the past few years instead of shrinking, they made it their business to make sure that anyone new around here gets the basic run down of things.” Cole said, grasping one of the chairs from a nearby desk and pulling it over to sit before Austin, the large man reversing the furniture so he could use the back rest for his arms and chin.</p>
<p>“Alight then, mind starting what an AUJ stands for?” Austin asked, already having a suspicion, but wanting to get confirmation.</p>
<p>“It stands for 'Alternate Universe Jumper'. We sometimes call them ‘Jumpers’ for short.” The dark haired man said, studying the lost teens face as he delivered the news. He was rewarded by a somewhat knowing nod from Austin. “I take it you're at least familiar with alternate universes? You seem pretty calm all things considered.”</p>
<p>“I know of them, but they were always fiction where I come from. Didn't think I'd ever find out they were real.” he said, running his fingers through his sandy hair with a sigh.</p>
<p>Cole chuckled softly, nodding with a grin. “Yeah, they're real enough, at least that's about the only thing we've been able to figure out as to explain why people who claim to come from completely different worlds suddenly end up in ours.”</p>
<p>“Why do people end up here though? Is there something special about this place? What about ways to get back? Just what IS this place?” Austin asked, firing off one question after another as the dam he had been holding back since finding himself in the forest burst open.</p>
<p>“Woah there, kid, hold your Ponytaurs! I'll tell ya everything you're wanting to know, but you've got to keep calm.” Cole said, raising his hands in a stop gesture. He smiled as he watched the AUJ before him ease back down and nodding, the dark haired man even taking a small breath to calm himself.</p>
<p>“Alright then.” Cole started with a nod as he straightened up. “Let's start at the beginning then. About three hundred or so years ago, there was a man known as Sukebe. Now no one really knows just what the hell set him off, but the guy eventually turns on the entire human race by creating a bunch of creatures who have the shape of human women, but have powers unlike anything you'd believe. From flinging fireballs to being able to bend solid steel like it paper, he unleashes them all on humanity in a war. Follow me so far?”</p>
<p>Austin nodded, though he was a little skeptical. It definitely sounded like something out of an odd fantasy novel, but the reality of the situation made it a little hard from him to really deny otherwise. Besides, with the Sideviper from earlier, the proof was a little to hard to ignore.</p>
<p>“Well, human kind wasn't exactly going to take it lying down, so they fought back. They lost a lot, specially in the early days. It wasn't until a solider found one the girls wounded and took care of her that he discovered a way of shifting their loyalties from Sukebe to themselves. Turns out the man was a dirty old perv, among other things, and when he created the girls, he made them designed with a need and a responsiveness to sex.”</p>
<p>“Wait, what? Are you serious?” Austin said, shaking his head to clear it, just knowing he had to have heard Cole wrong.</p>
<p>The dark haired man laughed a bit at Austins reaction. “Trust me, you're not the first or last person to have that reaction. Don't know much about the other universes besides this one, but from what I've been able to tell, having sex to control powerful female beings isn't normal among most of them.” Cole said with a grin before regaining control. “But yes, I'm being serious.”</p>
<p>“These women, eventually being called Pokegirls thanks to the way we were able to contain and carry them around, turned out to be a double blessing for the humans during the war. Not only did it give us the means of fighting back against Sukebe's forces, but it also helped us repopulate, as a lot of women became barren around that time thanks to a few diseases that were unleashed from both sides of the fight. Once all the fighting was done and Sukebe was killed, there was only a fraction of the worlds population left. We've pretty much spent all of the time we've had since then rebuilding society, with the Pokegirls themselves acting as a big part of it, weather it was for helping us rebuild, entertainment purposes, or just doing jobs that fit their skills. Its actually become a well known job to go and journey about, capturing wild uncontrolled Pokegirls, which we call Ferals, and making sure that in general most people are safe. Not always easy to do when you’ve got some girls that are capable of tearing down buildings with their bare hands.”</p>
<p>Austin sat back, his most recent cup of tea cooling untouched on the table as he absorbed this in. <em>So, </em><em>post-apocalyptic</em><em> world </em><em>with u</em><em>nu</em><em>sual beings that inhabit it? Sounds like one of your traditional video games. Kinda makes me wish I knew a bit more about them instead of spending so much time reading fantasy novels.</em></p>
<p>“You alright, Austin? Seem kinda quiet.” Cole spoke, interrupting the young man’s thoughts. “Not that I’m complaining or anything, but most people are either screaming at me that I’m lying or freaking out and running away. We’ve had a bit of both before when I’ve told people all this.”</p>
<p>“Well, there’s a couple of things, really.” The sandy haired teen started, looking the other man in the eye as he ticked off his fingers. “First off, there’s the simple fact that I don’t think anyone would waste the time, effort, or money in trying to trick a college drop out from Chicago that he suddenly got magically transported into another universe. Second, I’ve actually seen some things that just aren’t possible in my world, such as having a girl being apparently carried in a ball and appearing in a flash of light. Hell, her being topless would be a big issue back home, much less her being a freaking centaur. Third, Dalaa over there would never be allowed in a hospital in my own universe, not in that outfit.”</p>
<p>Cole gave a small laugh nodding a bit as he gave a look to the Nurse in question whom was doing her best to look prim and proper, not the easiest feat to do when you had as much cleavage as she was currently wielding. Austin continued on, ticking off one last finger. “And finally, the only remaining thing left to explain this is the fact that I’ve gone insane, and if that’s the case, then there’s little I can do to get out of it, now can I?”</p>
<p>The tall dark haired man nodded, giving the Jumper a look over and rubbing his chin. “That’s a pretty logical way of looking at things.”</p>
<p>Austin shrugged lightly. “I can’t see any other way to handle this. Even if I didn’t already know about all this alternate universe stuff from all the things I’ve read, it would be kinda stupid to go crazy in a world that clearly has dangerous creatures that could easily kill me.”</p>
<p>The dark haired man raised an eyebrow at that, giving the young teen before him a look. “Oh, ran into something scary already, did ya?” he asked, more then a little surprised. Depending on just what he had faced, Austin should have been counting his lucky stars that he was still alive.</p>
<p>“Uh, yeah, I think it was called a Sideviper? Or at least, that’s what I was told it was called by the gal who saved me.” the teen said, frowning for a moment as he thought. “All I know was that she was able to fire acid at me and if wasn’t for the girl with the sword, I’d probably be half goop by now.”</p>
<p>“Girl with a sword?” Cole repeated, frowning a bit as he sat up a bit straighter. “Tell me, did she have dark hair that hung out in her face like so?” The dark haired man put his hands above his head, his index fingers pointing down on either side of his face with both of his thumbs touching each other.</p>
<p>Austin nodded, recognizing the hairstyle. “Yeah, that’s her. She a friend of yours?”</p>
<p>“Not exactly.” the older man said, shaking his head. “She’s actually a Pokegirl herself, one of the more humanoid ones. Some Pokegirls are so humanlike it’s almost impossible to tell them apart from the real McCoy. That one you’re talking about sounds like Suzuka, a Ronin. She’s kinda well known throughout these parts for make sure that anyone who gets lost in the words are able to get out alive.”</p>
<p>The sandy haired male sat up at that word, raising his eyebrows. “A ronin? Like a samurai without a master? You guys have those?”</p>
<p>“Capital R there, Austin.” Cole said, arms crossed against his chest. “Pokegirl breeds all have their own names and there’s a great deal of them that pull directly from history or fiction, though just as much were made up by the kind of sex they like or their looks, sometimes put together. Ronin’s are sword specializing girls and are pretty well known for traveling the world when they don’t have masters. Lots of folks are interested in catching one for themselves since they tend to make pretty loyal Pokegirls once you gain their trust. I think the main reason she’s not been caught yet herself is because Suzuka tends to keep to the woods and a lot of the locals around here aren’t exactly the strongest of battlers.”</p>
<p>The young man pursed his lips, thinking on that bit of information. To think that the woman who saved him was considered to be the same as the Sideviper. Both being Pokegirls despite radically different looks and abilities. It made him wonder just how far down this rabbit hole went. “Well, I guess it’s good to know that she’s more then capable of taking care of herself out there then. I was a little worried with the way she was talking that she might have suffered a head injury or something..”</p>
<p>“Wait… what do you mean?” Cole demanded suddenly, standing straight up from his seat, the man’s face twisted in a look of worry.</p>
<p>“Uh...” Austin answered, off balanced by the sudden change in the dark haired man’s reaction, before coming up with a proper response. “She… seemed to have trouble talking, like she was trying to force the words out. I’ve seen that before with people who’d hurt their heads, so I thought that might have been it.”</p>
<p>Cole’s face went pale after that, the man bringing his thumb and forefinger to the bridge of his nose and pinching it, letting out a groan. “Shit, she’s going feral.” He said, turning from Austin to head to the Nurse Joy, Dalaa also having that same worried look on her face. “I’m going to need the center’s spare Pokeballs for this one.”</p>
<p>“Shouldn’t we wait for Raz or Yuel? I don’t want you to get in trouble...” The Nurse joy commented, biting her lip. “I don’t think the Judge will like it if he found out you went out armed with a Pokeball, even if it is to protect Suzuka.”</p>
<p>“Wait, Cole, what’s going on?” The sandy haired teen asked, interpreting the pair, clearly having missed something from all this. “What do you mean feral? I thought that was what you called the wild Pokegirls. Suzuka isn’t wild.”</p>
<p>Cole shook his head, opening up a backpack that Austin had apparently missed. Inside was a jacket made out of some kind of leather, the material stiff and resisting to the older man’s hands as he slipped it about his large frame. “Remember how I said Pokegirls were designed to have a strong need of sex?” The dark haired man asked, strapping himself into the jacket, his hand slipping back into the pack and pulling out a small rod. He pressed a button on it and the thing extended outward on either side, becoming a large staff almost as big as Cole himself.</p>
<p>“Yeah, what about it?” Austin asked, still completely confused.</p>
<p>“Feral’s not just a name for Pokegirls who are out in the wilds. It’s also what we call a girl who doesn’t get the sex she needs. After a long enough time without it, they all eventually become more wild and uncontrollable, the vast majority losing their intelligence and acting more like beasts then humans.” Cole explained, grunting when he noticed Dalaa still reluctant to give him the Pokeball he asked for. The man took it upon himself to go behind the front desk that the Joy used, opening the top drawer and snatching the red and white sphere he saw. He turned his gaze up to the pink haired women, as if daring her to stop him from taking the ball. She didn’t, though Cole could tell from the twist of her mouth that she disapproved. The man ignored it, moving back around and grabbing the backpack. “Suzuka’s a Ronin, so her need for sex isn’t that strong compared to other kinds of Pokegirls. But she needs it regardless. I had thought she had been getting it from somewhere to keep herself in control, but if what you said is even half accurate, then she’s going to be wild herself sooner rather then later.”</p>
<p>“So what does that mean exactly? You’re acting like you’re going into war here.” Austin said, standing up himself now, the AUJ feeling that familiar pang of fear flood through his bones.</p>
<p>“You know that sword that Suzuka carries around? It’s a summoned item, requiring focus and energy to keep with her. Once Ronins goes feral, they lose the ability to call upon their weapons. There’s a reason her kind are a rare breed to find in the wild.”</p>
<p>It didn’t take long for Austin to figure out the reasoning from there. A sword specialist fighter suddenly losing their weapon and intelligence, facing off against who knows what in that forest? Hell, the Sideviper would likely take revenge from before if given half the chance. “I’m coming with you.” the young man stated, standing.</p>
<p>“Like hell you are!” Dalaa growled, the pink haired woman finally coming out from behind her desk, her soft face turned into a harsh glare as she stood before Austin. “Cole going is bad enough, but at least he knows what he’s getting into! You’re not even from this world!”</p>
<p>The sandy haired teen blinked, backing up a step. His face turned into a frown though as he returned the Joy’s glare with one of his own. “You think I’m just going to stand around here while Suzuka’s out there, possibly in danger? That girl risked her hide for me! I’m not just going to turn my back when she might get killed out there!”</p>
<p>“And you think that’s going to matter when you’re going up against a Sideviper? If she wanted to, the girl could literally tear you limb from limb! All you’re doing by going against her is giving the feral another victim!” The nurse said, stepping closer to Austin, blocking him off from the exit.</p>
<p>“And let Suzuka be the one torn apart instead?!” The young man roared back, surprising everyone with his tone, including himself. In any other situation, Austin might have conceded to those more wiser in the local area then him. But the situation changed that. “I get it! I don’t fucking stand a chance against that bitch! Who cares?! I’m not going to let someone die just because my own life might be on the line!”</p>
<p>Dalaa’s face purpled a bit, the girl opening her mouth to shout back at the AUJ when she felt Cole’s firm hand on her shoulder, pulling her gaze from the sandy haired male to his own. “Dalaa, I know you don’t want anyone in danger…” he started, his tone soft, but stern. “But I don’t think the kid’s just going to sit this one out. I promise you, I’ll make sure it’s just an in and out situation. We get there, get Suzuka, and get out. We’ll only fight the Sideviper if we have to.”</p>
<p>“But… Cole...” the Joy started, biting her lip as her eyes softened. She shook her head after a moment of looking at her friend though, sighing heavily. “Alright… alright. But I don’t want either of you two doing anything more idiotic then this. Get in, get the Ronin, get out.”</p>
<p>Cole nodded at the nurse, a smile on his face. Austin watched as the voluptuous pink haired woman returned to her desk before searching for something in it, pulling out another ball and handing it to the alternate universe jumper. “Here, Autstin.” she said, placing it into his hands carefully. “This Pokeball will help give you time. If you run into the Sideviper, toss it at her and run like hell. It won’t keep her encased for long, but it should give you enough time to escape. Otherwise, you might want to use it on Suzuka depending on how her state might be.”</p>
<p>The young man nodded, not exactly going to bother just how the ball worked. He knew it was something normal in this world, considering the guy with the centaur girl from before had contained her inside it, but regardless he hoped that Dalaa was right about it being able to help him get away from the possible threat of melting or being clawed to death by an angry snake girl.</p>
<p>“If Yuel or Raz gets here before we get back, make sure to send them after us. Though, hopefully, it won’t come to that.” Cole said, giving his friend a confident grin, one that the nurse didn’t return. He gave her a soft hug that did bring a smile to her lips before leaving with Austin following close behind, Dalaa watching the two go.</p>
<p>~oOo~</p>
<p>Austin, despite his anger and insistence on being along for this rescue mission, couldn’t help but feel a chill of fear run through his spine the moment he stepped back into the forest. The thought of the Sideviper just waiting in here… anxious for revenge just kept swimming through his mind. Shaking his head clear of those fears, the sandy haired teen turned his attention to Cole.</p>
<p>The large man was bent down low to the ground, running his fingers against the soil nearest to the clearing that led into the woods, the dark haired individual nodding to himself before standing again. “She went this way.” He said, turning to Austin with a smile. “She isn’t in any danger yet, with how fresh her tracks are. If we catch up to her in time, we just might get back to the center before dinner.”</p>
<p>The sandy haired teen only nodded, keeping quiet. He didn’t want to jinx themselves with saying anything that might draw bad luck to them. While he wasn’t necessarily a believer in stuff like that, Austin wasn’t about to go poking Fate with a stick to prove that point. Gripping the Pokeball tightly in his right hand, the young AUJ followed Cole deeper into the forest.</p>
<p>“You really are worried about Suzuka, aren’t you?” The larger man asked after a couple minutes silence, nothing but the trees passing them as the ventured deeper through the woods.</p>
<p>“Like I said, I'm not just going to let someone who risked their lives for me just die because I wasn’t brave enough to do anything.” Austin said with a small growl of annoyance. He understood that Cole and Dalaa both were worried and didn’t want to see him hurt, but there should only be so many times he should have to inform them that he wasn’t just going to hide. Cole nodded at the response, continuing their trek through the woods.</p>
<p>Only a few more minutes had past in silence between the two males when Cole suddenly froze, raising his hand to make sure Austin did the same. After a moment, the dark haired man pulled his traveling companion behind a tree, crouching down and holding a finger to his lips. The two stayed stationary before something came into view. It was a Pokegirl, but different from the few other examples that the young teenager had seen so far.</p>
<p>Her skin was a dark brown and her figure immediately reminded him of Dalaa, if not more erotically emphasized, with heavy breasts that stood out naked and hips that swayed with her steps. Of course, for such a beautiful body… it was her face that truly made the Jumper pause, as the girl had a huge maw with several sharp teeth, three pairs of glowing, yellow eyes right above slender nose. It was all that Austin could do to keep from yelling out when one of those eyes pushed out on her face, extended on a stalk, looking around for a moment before returning to her face.</p>
<p>The Pokegirl, thankfully, didn’t seem to notice the two men hiding in the brush, as she turned away from them after that and walked out of sight. Cole let out a small sigh of relief, standing up back to his full height. “Mileeboro… damn, didn’t know one of those lived here.” he said, motioning for the sandy haired teen to follow him, thankfully away from the direction the Pokegirl went.</p>
<p>“Dangerous, I take it?” Austin asked, gazing back towards where the girl had wondered off to.</p>
<p>“Territorial. They’re actually pretty passive girls and almost never fight to kill, but when they do fight, their main form of attack can damn near leave ya useless.” Cole responded, bending done once more to take another glance at the ground. “That’s the main problem with most Pokegirls, though. There’s so many of them that you could end up getting gutted by a girl you thought might have been a non-threat otherwise. It’s one reason they’ve made the Pokedex, but even that thing isn’t the most accurate technology in the world.”</p>
<p>“Pokedex?” Austin asked, watching as his companion stood up, heading to the left instead of continuing forward as they had been.</p>
<p>“Think of it as an electronic encyclopedia. You can use it to scan Pokegirls so you know their breeds and some of their abilities. Problem is, the thing is still written by people, and not everyone agrees what about all the abilities and personalities of the girls that they’re writing about.” Cole replied, brushing aside some lower hanging branches from one of the nearby trees. “It also doesn’t take individual members of a breed into account. While a breed of girl might normally be timid or calm for most of their kind, you just might have the unfortunate luck to run into the one that is extra angry.”</p>
<p><em>So not to far off from animals where I came from in that case, then.</em> The AUJ thought, memories of his life before being brought to this crazy world. Pit Bulls were constantly bemoaned in the media as vicious, aggressive creatures, nothing like the playful one that Austin himself had as a kid. <em>Might work a bit in reverse here, if what Cole is saying is accurate.</em></p>
<p>After passing by fallen tree, the smell of the rotting wood strong in the air, Austin wondered if they were even going to find Suzuka at this point. He had no honest idea just how big the woods were and if there were more things like the Mileeboro laying in wait. What if there was something even more frightening than the Sideviper looking for a taste of flesh? Any further thoughts he had about the matter halted when a sharp cry pierced the quiet around them. Immediately, Cole started running towards the source of the noise with Austin in quick pursuit.</p>
<p>The pair soon found themselves outside a small clearing, one that Austin immediately recognized as the same one he had woke up in that morning, with thattree stump carved with runes standing in the center. Two pokegirls stood on either side of the stump, each breathing heavily and worn from battle. Suzuka’s robes were in an even worse state now, several patches burned away by caustic acid and rips decorating edges where claws had caught her when the Ronin had dodged. The Sideviper’s own scales were wet with blood, cuts lining about her chest and hips, one of her eyes closed shut from a harsh slash from the top of her forehead down to her cheek.</p>
<p>“Stay back...” Cole whispered, holding his hand before Austin’s chest, as if to prevent him from running in. Like the teen was that insane to get in between a fight between two girls that could either slice him to ribbons or melt him into a puddle of ooze.</p>
<p>Another cry came from the Ronin as she started charging towards the snake girl, holding her wooden blade close to her side. The Sideviper instantly reared back, wary of being cut by the blade once more, as her tail lashed out to trip the charging woman. Suzuka leapt before the scaled appendage could get too close, bokken lashing out to leave another cut against her foe, this one drawing a long slender line of blood between the serpents breasts. A harsh hiss escaped from a fanged mouth followed by a spit of acid, the liquid splashing on the ground where the Ronin had once been.</p>
<p>Jumping as far as she could away, Suzuka landed near the edge of the clearing, falling into a roll that brought the woman to her knees. Though the attack and evasion of the Ronin had shown her skill, it was also clear that she wasn’t going to be able to keep this up. Her arms and legs shook with exhaustion while sweat trailed down her face. It didn’t look like she had much strength left in her to fight.</p>
<p>Austin gritted his teeth in anger at seeing the woman who had saved him in such a state. Though he wouldn’t consider himself the most chivalrous of men, the Jumper did think that girls needed to be treated with respect and cared for. To just sit by and let the woman fight, hiding in the bushes… this was worse than not coming in the first place. It was when Suzuka raised her weapon again that the sandy haired teen noticed it. For just a second, the wooden sword that the Ronin fought with wavered, like the thing was made out of smoke. It was then that Austin recalled what Cole had said before. Suzuka was becoming feral enough that she couldn’t maintain her weapons existence.</p>
<p>“Damn it...” The teen said before doing something he knew was stupid and suicidal. But it was also better then just sitting around.</p>
<p>Running out of the cover, ignoring the sudden shout by Cole, Austin let out a roar before charging right at the Sideviper. The snake girl’s eyes widened in surprise at the sound, turning around just in time to get slammed in the stomach by the young teen. After hitting the ground, she hissed, her red tail swinging around and catching Austin in the side. The AUJ flung across the clearing, landing with a heavy thud onto his side, his world spinning.</p>
<p>With their cover blown, Cole soon followed into the fight, instantly tossing the Pokeball at the Sideviper as she tried to recover. The red and white orb flew through the air and, for a hopeful moment, looked like it might hit the girl. That’s when the snakes clawed hand shot up, grasping the ball and keeping it shut. Slitted eyes narrowed in anger, focused now on the dark haired man, tossing the offending device behind her before starting off towards the man.</p>
<p>Cole was barely able to get his staff up in time before the Pokegirl hit him, the weapon taking the brunt of the attack. Unfortunately, though made out of durable metal and designed for defense, the Sidevipers feral strength proved the tougher of the two, her claws snapping it into two. The sheer force of her strike tore the remaining pieces out of Cole’s hands, the man letting out a scream of pain when he felt the sharp pain of his bones snapping, his left wrist now at an odd angle.</p>
<p>Her prey weak before her now, the Sideviper stretched up to her full height before the prone man, an eager smile on her face. A forked tongue teased her lips before her fanged maw open wide, ready to taste the man. She never saw Suzuka’s bokken, the wooden blade cutting through the snake Pokegirls neck. The corpse fell to the ground with a thud, shuddering and twitching for a moment, before a bright white light coated the entire body and severed head. When it had cleared enough for everyone to be able to see again, the Sidevipers corpsehad completely vanished.</p>
<p>“Is that normal when Pokegirls die?” Austin asked, finally able to pick himself up. He was leaning heavily against a tree that had escaped the fight, his balance a little wobbly.</p>
<p>“No… it isn’t...” Cole growled through gritted teeth, his face twisted in pain, his hands clutched tightly to his chest. He sucked in sharply as he stood, the very movement hurting him. “We need to get back to the center… we’re sitting ducks out here like this.”</p>
<p>Austin nodded before looking over to Suzuka, whom was now staring at the pair. Her eyes looked troubled, almost uncertain as they looked into the sandy haired teens eyes. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out but a weak ‘rooooo’. That caused the raven haired woman to pause, eyebrows knitting down in confusion. Shaking her head, the Ronin let her weapon fall to the ground, the wooden sword fading from existence after landing as she lost her focus.</p>
<p>“Suzuka...” Austin said, bringing her attention to him once more, the Pokegirl’s eyes looking lost. The teenager brought up the Pokeball he had from before, presenting it to her. “We need to all get back to the hospital. You’ve been hurt and we need to get you help. Would you be willing to come with us?” he asked, not wanting to force her. Suzuka remained still for a moment, gazing at the young man with such intensity he wondered if she was going to attack him, before reaching out and touching the Pokeball. With a flash of red light, the Ronin was absorbed into the orb, barely shaking once before it let out a ping sound.</p>
<p>“Great… Now let’s get the hell out of here.” Cole said, pain still thick in his voice. Austin nodded, the two men leaving the clearing, with the younger of the two looking back, wondering just what the hell had caused all this.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Flow</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>The trek back to the town of River Pass was, thankfully, a quiet one.</p>
<p>That didn’t mean that Cole and Austin didn’t take precautions in case some other feral Pokegirl decided that the two were easy prey. Considering the former's injuries and the latter’s lack of knowledge of this strange new world, Austin was fairly certain that even something fairly weak would be able to take them down. When he expressed is concerns with his companion, the dark haired man had explained through gritted teeth that’s why they were passing through the Mileeboro’s territory again. Even if they did have a Pokegirl interested in them, even the most primal of feral girls knew not to mess with a Mileeboro. It actually made the plant types territory one of the safest places to be, so long as they didn’t meet the girl herself.</p>
<p>The Jumper didn’t relax at all until he saw the slow decline of trees and shrubs, the outline of houses and farmland of the town taking their place. Turning to his companion, he frowned at the sight of Cole’s pale face and shuddering breath. Was the pain of his wrist really that bad? Or was it something more, like shock? It made Austin wish he had studied a bit of medicine to help his ailing ally.</p>
<p>As luck would have it, though, Dalaa was waiting outside the Pokecenter for them, the pink haired nurse instantly going to Cole’s aid. “I knew it! I just knew you’d get yourself hurt!” She said, pressing her hand against the injured man’s back so as to hurry him along inside. The Joy immediately had Cole sit down on the chairs near the entrance and knelt beside him, her fingers reaching out and touching the injured wrist that he was holding so closely. The motion alone got a hiss out of the man.</p>
<p>“Is he going to be alright?” Austin asked, trying to calm down and rid himself of the last remaining edges of panic that were still flowing in his body.</p>
<p>“Yes, he’ll be just fine. It’s a simple break, thankfully.” Dalaa responded with her focus entirely on her patient. She looked up at Cole, her lips pressed in a thin line. “I’m going to have to push it back in place before I heal it. Are you ready?”</p>
<p>A quick nod was her answer, the pale man’s face scrunching up in anticipation. It was a quick motion, the Nurse pushing hard to move the wrist back into position, the sight and sound alone making Austin’s stomach feel a bit sensitive. Cole’s reaction was even worse, the man letting out a cry of pain that worked through clenched teeth.</p>
<p>Dalaa acted immediately once the bone was back in place, her green eyes taking on a yellow sheen, her right palm taking on the same glow. She traced her fingers against the broken wrist, whispering something that that Austin couldn’t make out. Within a few minutes the pained, pale look that Cole had since the fight with the Sideviper bleed away into relief. The glow eventually faded away into nothing, the Nurse sitting back against her heels.</p>
<p>“You should still feel a bit of tenderness for a while, Cole, but you should heal just fine. But I swear, if you don’t stop going out and getting hurt like this, I’m going to start smacking you around myself!” The Joy said, her cute face scrunching up in anger. If it wasn’t for the fact that Austin was still in shock by the clear <em><b>magic</b></em> that Dalaa just used, he would have chuckled a bit at how the smaller woman was acting towards the dark haired man.</p>
<p>“I’ll try to keep that in mind for the future, Dalaa...” Cole said, still wincing a little as he rubbed his healed arm, as if testing the bone that had been broken not a minute before.</p>
<p>The Nurse made a little sound of disbelief before taking a deep breath to help calm herself, having the side effect of drawing the men’s eyes to her rather prominent bosom. She stood quickly before turning her angry eyes over to Austin. “Tell me you at least were able to get Suzuka?” She stated, clearly gritting her teeth to keep in control of her anger.</p>
<p>The sandy haired teen nodded, pulling out the pokeball from his pocket and handing it to Dalaa. “She went into the ball without issue after I told her we were going to get her taken care of. Will you be able to heal her like you did Cole?” he asked, concerned.</p>
<p>She didn’t answer him, instead taking the ball and moving over to the desk. Placing the pokeball in an odd contraption that Austin could only see part of, Dalaa then turned over to the computer connecting it, typing with a speed that he found himself a bit jealous of. The Joy nodded to herself as she read the data the screen gave her before typing in a few more strings followed by hitting the enter key before looking up at the two men. “She should be just fine after a healing cycle. Nothing broken and no status ailments. She’ll be ok in an hour, but she’ll likely have a few scars, though, considering how long she’s been in the wild.”</p>
<p>“Only a few scars? The healing you’ve got here is that good?” Austin asked, blinking at that. While Suzuka didn’t have a bunch of lacerations on her body that he remembered from the fight they had against the Sideviper, the fact that she had been out there for who knows how long and could be healed up near perfectly?</p>
<p>“We can heal Pokegirls a bit better than we can heal humans, but we can still help pretty much anyone if we get them to a center as soon as possible.” Cole answered with a small chuckle, standing beside the young teen. “The question is what we’re going to do with her once she’s all patched up.”</p>
<p>“Well, we can’t give her to you, Cole. The court is already going to have a fit if they found out you were equipped with a Pokeball. We don’t need you having jail time for being caught with possession of a Pokegirl.” Dalaa pointed out, giving the dark haired man a piercing look through narrowed eyes.</p>
<p>“What, what do you mean ‘the court? Did Cole do something to get himself in trouble with the law?” Austin asked, starting to get tired not knowing everything. Yes, he was in another reality and didn’t know all the little details, but he was used to actually being the one asked questions. That thought made a small pang of longing go through the Jumper. He hadn’t thought much about his home with all this insanity, had he?</p>
<p>The dark haired man winced a little bit at the question, turning away from the pair for a moment before answering. “Yeah, I did. I’d rather not talk about it though. Just know that, for the immediate future, I’m legally restricted from owning any Pokegirls. The most I’m allowed would be to tame one like Dalaa here if she needed it, but I can’t have my own personal harem at all.”</p>
<p>“He’s honestly lucky he got off with just that and his community service.” Dalaa commented, crossing her arms beneath her breasts. “Regardless, you can’t take Suzuka. Her data also shows that she’s gone completely feral, so none of the ‘girls here can tame her either. And you know that if we tell anyone outside of the center, we’re going to get every tamer whose ever gone against her wanting to take her for themselves.”</p>
<p>“So, what does that mean?” Austin asked. From what he was hearing, it sounded almost like they were just going to send the poor girl back out into the wilderness. “There’s going to be something we can do for her.”</p>
<p>“Well, Austin, considering how much you insisted on risking your neck for her before, I was thinking that you’d probably be best suited for her Tamer.” The Nurse said, a small grin gracing her plump lips.</p>
<p>“Wait, me?! I don’t know anything about being a Tamer! Not only that, I’m not even FROM this world. I should be looking for a way home!”</p>
<p>The silence that fell over the center after Austin said that made his heart sink. There was only one reason his logical mind could think of why they would be quiet after such an exclamation, and the pained looks on man and Pokegirl proved it. “There’s no way for me to go home… is there?” The Jumper stated, his tone flat.</p>
<p>“No… not that we know of.” Cole responded with a subdued tone. “Almost all the Jumpers that we’ve ever seen come here pretty much lived out the rest of their lives in this world. I know that there was one or two that were able to go back to their homes, but I don’t know how the hell they did it or if it’s even possible to do it again.”</p>
<p>The answer took out all the energy that Austin had, making the young man to collapse onto the chair behind him, placing his head in his hands. So, that was it then. His mother? Gone. His home and belongings? Gone. Every friend, what few that they were, that he had ever made? Gone. Nothing of his old life, his old existence outside of the clothes on his back had followed him into this crazed world of sexual creatures. A small part of the sandy haired teen had figured this would be the case, sure. But there had been some hope, a tiny flame of confidence that these people would be able to return him to the life he once had.</p>
<p>A small, soft hand touching his shoulder broke Austin out of his stupor, bringing his attention up to Dalaa, for once the young man not being distracted by the girls massive chest as he gazed up to her face. A sympathetic smile crossed her lips as she gave him a small squeeze. “I know you’re overwhelmed right now, Austin. Leaving behind everything you knew and cared about isn’t an easy thing to do...” she paused, a small flicker of pain crossing her face. The pink haired woman breathed out of her nose for a moment before continuing on. “But know that you’ll always have shelter here. It might not be home, but I think it could become one for you.”</p>
<p>The AUJ stared for a moment at those big green eyes of Dalaa, a little surprised about the offer of even a temporary abode. Despite himself, Austin did feel his lips twitch upward into a smile, nodding to the woman before him. Even if the thought of being cut off from everything he ever knew was something more than the sandy-haired teen could even comprehend at the moment, the fact that there was someone offering help took some of the weight of his shoulders. “Thanks, Dalaa.” He said after a moment, trying his best to keep his voice even.</p>
<p>The Nurse Joy nodded, giving him a young smile before turning her head, drawing Austin’s gaze back to the lone Pokeball on the healing device. “Besides, there’s a girl now that’s going to be relying on you. Not many people would go back into the forest to rescue a girl just because she’s going feral. That’ll mean a lot to her, I’m sure.”</p>
<p>“I really didn’t do much...” Austin said, trying to keep himself from blushing. “I just didn’t want her to get hurt after she risked herself for me.”</p>
<p>“I can tell you now that there are some people who wouldn’t care about that at all, Austin. Even if you were wanting to protect her, you still gave Suzuka an option on weather or not to go with us. Most tamers wouldn’t even think twice on just balling her right then and there.” Cole pointed out with a wide grin. “Even going after her because you felt indebted to her is something that is a bit rare to see among folks.”</p>
<p>The sandy-haired teen nodded as he ran his hand through his hair. In a way, Austin still felt like they were thrusting the job of being a tamer onto him, but if the young man was going to be living in this world for the rest of his life, it would probably be better in the long run if he went along with their suggestions. “Alright, I guess you guys got a point. What exactly am I expected to do?”</p>
<p>“Well, we can get you set up to take the Tamer Test a bit later to make everything official but I think the only real thing you’ll need to do is tame Suzuka once she’s done healing.” Dalaa said with a sly smile. “And after that, Cole could probably give you some pointers and we’ve got a few regulars around here who probably wouldn’t mind showing you the ropes.”</p>
<p>It was that response that made Austin pause, the flush completely over taking his face as recalled what exactly ‘taming’ meant. Though there was no doubt that the young man found Suzuka attractive, unbelievably so, but having sex with someone he’s spent all of ten minutes around wasn’t something that the young man ever thought he’d ever had to consider. “There’s no other way to get her out of being feral, is there?”</p>
<p>Cole shook his head. “No. Only a human tamer can return her to normal now. While Pokegirls can tame each other, it’s more of a stop gap than anything else.”</p>
<p>Dalaa kneeled before Austin, those big green eyes looking up at him, lips curled into a smile. “I know you might feel uncomfortable with this, Austin, but trust me when I say this: Suzuka needs to be tamed and I honestly believe that you’re the best option for it. Ronins don’t accept trainers easily, but I think you’ve proven what it takes for her to be alright with it.”</p>
<p>“I still don’t think I’m the right person for this… but it sounds like any other choice isn’t going to help Suzuka at all.” Austin stated, lips twisting into a grimace. The picture painted by Cole and Dalaa about the people in this world didn’t do much to make the Jumper think all that highly of them. “Alright, I’ll do it. When exactly will she be in good enough shape for this whole deal?”</p>
<p>The young man’s answer came in a five note chime that sounded out from the healing machine, Dalaa moving back behind the desk and plucking the small sphere from the device. The Nurse returned to Austin’s side, placing the ball into his hands. “She’s all ready for you right now.”</p>
<p>For a long moment, the Jumper just stared at the unoffensive ball in his grasp, his mind trying to get around the fact that there was a living, breathing woman inside of it that he was expected to have sex with. Just when did his life get so weird?</p>
<p>~oOo~</p>
<p>Austin didn’t feel any more confident about his situation when he finally closed and locked the door behind him, now safely within the confines of his new bedroom. It was a simple place: A large bed that took up most of the available floor space, a pair of blackout curtains covering a large window that was directly across from the door, a desk with writing utensils against the final wall that had a small computer on it, and finally a selection of restraints and wall bracers for those Pokegirls so strong that they needed to be tied down. From what Dalaa had told him, Pokecenters were often used as homes away from home by most Tamers in the world, a place where they can relax, recharge, and of course tame their Pokegirls. It was that last bit that he was now expected to do himself.</p>
<p>“I still can’t believe I’m about to do this...” Austin muttered to himself, looking down once again at Suzuka’s Pokeball. Knowing if he didn’t do anything now he’d lose his nerve, the young man tossed the ball before him and watched as it opened in a brilliant white light. A few seconds later, the Ronin had formed before him, dark eyes glancing around before focusing on him. She opened her mouth to speak, with only a low “Ro….” escaping her lips before she stopped, her eyebrows furring in annoyance.</p>
<p>“You’re feral, Suzuka...” Austin told her, immediately feeling stupid for saying that. Of course a Pokegirl who’s lived in this world would know what she was going through better than an Alternate Universe Jumper could ever convey. The sudden sharp look that he got from the Pokegirl also told him that she probably didn’t like being reminded of what her situation currently was.</p>
<p>“I’m not sure what to do here, to be honest.” He admitted, shaking his head as he sat down on the bed, feeling the soft fabric sink under his weight. “Cole and Dalaa both said I’ve got to have sex with you to snap you out of this. You don’t even know my name… Austin, by the way. But as insane as all that is, I understand that’s what normal here. I’m just not sure if I’m to everything they’re piling on me as well as that.”</p>
<p>The Jumper took a small breath, running his fingers against his face. Suzuka remained where she stood before him, sharp, slender eyes remaining on him. The sandy-haired male couldn’t help but think that she was judging him. “They want me to be a tamer, taking you as my Pokegirl. And while I get that’s how things work here… it just feels wrong to do that to you.” He shook his head once more. As perverse as it was, as much as it didn’t match the world he was brought up in, Austin understood it.</p>
<p>Pokegirls required sex… needed it so they didn’t go feral. Humanity required the tamed girls to fight off other ferals, for protection and continuing their own existence. Faced with that, there was no way he could be against how the world functioned, regardless of how it might be uncomfortable to him in certain aspects. It was a choice between life and death: You either took advantage of the girl and lived… or you didn’t and you died. But this particular instance wasn’t life or death. Even if he did have to have sex with Suzuka, something a small part of him was yelling to just get to it already, it didn’t mean he had to force her into his service.</p>
<p>“Listen...” he said, looking up at those dark eyes of the Ronin, hoping she understood all that he was saying. Ferals could understand what was being told to them, in some extent, but it also depended on the breed. Ronins, Dalaa had said, were among those that he should be able to talk to just fine because of her close to human nature. “I’m not going to force you, Suzuka… I just want you to be able to think for yourself again, to be able to protect yourself again. For that, I need to ‘tame’ you. If you want to to go back to the forest after that, you’ll be free to go. Is that alright?”</p>
<p>Suzuka remained still for a long minute after that, her eyes searching Austin. Part of the young man expected her to attack him, regardless of the lack of weapon. Instead, she sat down beside him, her hand slowly reaching out. She touched his face, gently pressing so as to have him look at her directly. A small smile crossed her lips, the dark haired woman whispering out a small “Nin...”</p>
<p>A small sigh escaped the Jumper, his own lips curling into a smile. “Alright. I guess I’m going to do my best for you then..” He said, his hand raising to grasp the one she had to his cheek. He squeezed it for a moment before deciding to get on with it. Bring her hand to his lips, he kissed the back of it softly, eyes remaining locked with Suzuka’s, just in case she didn’t approve of his advances. Her smile grew a little wider at his action, making the sandy-haired teen bold enough to continue.</p>
<p>Reaching up to touch the Ronin’s cheek, her traced the side of her face, etching the detail into his mind. He noticed a small beauty mark on her chin, right below her lower lip, something that he had missed before. The young Jumper’s hands continued down her neck and brushed against Suzuka’s shoulder, causing the Pokegirl to shiver, a small gasp escaping her. The sound enough was enough to make him flush, already feeling his excitement swell in his pants. He wasn’t in this for his own pleasure, though.</p>
<p>Hands slowly undoing the ragged torn robes the woman wore, Austin was a little surprised to find a series of bandages wrapped around Suzuka’s breasts. A sarashi, if he remembered correctly. He found the start of the strap at her right side, grasping it and slowly unraveling it from the woman. A flush crept up the young mans face as more and more skin of the Ronin was revealed, the bandages eventually falling away completely.</p>
<p>With her chest exposed, Austin continued his slow exploration of Suzuka’s body, his hand finding a small line of pink above her breast that mismatched oddly against the womans otherwise pale skin. He traced the flesh softly, the Pokegirl wincing for a moment before a look of confusion crossed her face. From that reaction, the Jumper can only guess this was an injury from fighting the Sideviper that had healed by that machine. That was only supported as, after purposely avoiding Suzuka’s breasts, he found a dark line running across the left side of her belly down to the hip.</p>
<p>“You’ve been through a lot… haven’t you?” he whispered, eyes tearing away from her half naked form to look up into her eyes again. She nodded, lips parted with her breaths, which were coming a bit faster now along with flushed cheeks. The sight made Austin blink in surprise. He hadn’t done anything more then light touches to her frame, and Suzuka was already this flustered? A look down to her breasts confirmed the Ronin was aroused, stiff nipples poking up from the pale, plump orbs.</p>
<p>It was looking at those directly that reminded Austin about what he was here to do… and what his body desired. He could feel his erection pressing eagerly against his pants and the need for sex making it harder to focus, much less to think logically about all this. Still, the Jumper was here for Suzuka, not himself, and that was going to be the focus of all this.</p>
<p>With another breath, Austin reached out to cup the Pokegirls breast, feeling it’s weight and size in his palm. Suzuka’s response was immediate, a small breathy gasp escaping her as she arched against his hand. He squeezed, letting his fingers sink into the flesh ever so gently, and watched as the Ronin’s gasp turned into a silky soft moan. If the young man hadn’t already been hard from all this, that sound alone would have gotten him there.</p>
<p>Succumbing to his own desires, the Jumper lowered his head and let his lips wrap about one of the hardened nipples, sucking at it softly. The Pokegirl trembled and arched against his eager lips, even more so when he added his hand to the other breast, teasing and tugging the teat. The pair soon fond themselves flush against the bed, Austin atop of a squirming Suzuka.</p>
<p>Need began to overwhelm the young man, pulling away those tantalizing breasts and letting his hands roam downwards. His fingers tugged the rest of the Ronin’s robes down and away from her form, and it shocked him for a moment to discover no panties or anything like it covering her wet womanhood. The simple fact that she had been going commando all this time made a primal part of Austin scream in need and this time he couldn’t do anything to stop it.</p>
<p>Tugging off his own clothes, shirt and pants quickly finding the floor beside the frayed and damaged robes, Austin gazed down at the beautiful Pokegirl while pressing his eager thickness against her entrance, the erection pulsing with need. With one last look into her eyes, the sandy-haired man thrust himself into Suzuka, groans of pleasure escaping human and Pokegirl as they joined.</p>
<p>Instinct took over completely now, Austin’s hands roaming down to Suzuka’s hips, grasping onto her as he began to thrust in and out of the Pokegirl. The feeling of her wet core squeezing around him was near addicting, even more with the sight of the open mouthed delight on the Ronin’s face. The innate heat of their bodies grew with each passing moment and the young man could already feel their bodies grow slick with sweat.</p>
<p>Fingers reaching down to cup the lithe woman’s rump, Austin let his body grow wild and erratic. It was impossible for him to do anything more than to ride out the need and desire that took him. What he hadn’t expected, though, was the sudden want that overtook him thanks to Suzuka. Wrapping her arms about his head and lacing her digits together, the Pokegirl looked directly into the sandy-haired male’s eyes. Such was the passion that filled them, the pure emotion like nothing that Austin had ever seen, that the Jumper found his lips capturing Suzuka’s before he could even process it.</p>
<p>That kiss drove the Pokegirl wild underneath him, her grip about his neck tightening as her while her legs wrapped about his hips. The AUJ could feel her inner walls constricting around him, signaling Suzuka’s orgasm. Overwhelmed by the sensation, Austin found himself giving one last bed shuddering thrust into the girl beneath him before his own pleasure peaked, feeling the heat of his own release shooting deep into the girl.</p>
<p>Pokegirl and human remained joined, both in loin and lips, for a time after their release. It was with a reluctant groan that Austin finally broke the kiss, gasping a bit. He stayed within the Pokegirl for a little while longer, simply watching her chest rise and fall with her heavy breaths. Bringing his attention back up to her fast, the teen was surprised to see the soft smile and clear eyes of Suzuka staring back at him. She unlatched her fingers from behind his neck and touched his cheek once more, the sensation soft.</p>
<p>Withdrawing from her, Austin finally felt the events of everything hit him at once, the sandy-haired male laying beside the Ronin. It was as he continued to stare into Suzuka’s eyes that eventually he fell asleep.</p>
<p>~oOo~</p>
<p>“Well, what did I tell you?” Dalaa said, a smile and a small flush coating her cheeks, turning away from the small computer she sat at. She and Cole had just finished watching Austin tame Suzuka, mostly to make sure that the young man was going to go through with it. It was hard, at times, to know what an AUJ would do. So many of them came from such different backgrounds than the Pokegirl and it was often a wild guess on what they’d do.</p>
<p>“I’m honestly surprised that he still offered to let her go free even after taming her. Kids’ got a good sense of honor.” Cole commented. “I think he’ll do well in this world, though we’re still going to have to recruit the others to help him out. After the last Jumper we got in Cherrygrove ended up getting bumped off by a Hound of all things, I’d rather not send Austin out in the wilds a day after he got here.”</p>
<p>The Pokegirl nodded, stretching a little bit and fanning her face. Even if it was clear that Austin wasn’t the most skilled of men in the bed, the show did get her a bit flustered. She’d have to go and see if she could sneak in another taming session. “Well, if I remember right, we’ve got Yuel wanting to do his Battle training tomorrow and we could have Austin join him. Give him the basics of how to survive.”</p>
<p>Cole snorted, raising an eyebrow at the pink haired nurse. “Yuel? Seriously? I thought you liked the kid.”</p>
<p>“Just because Yuel can be a bit on the rough side doesn’t mean he isn’t the best around to teach Austin about how to battle.” Dalaa said, rising her chin up in and turning away from the man.</p>
<p>“Sure, what ever you say, Dalaa...” Cole responded, rolling his eyes before shoving his hands into his pants pockets, shuffling away from the Pokegirl and her computer.</p>
<p>“Hey… Cole?” She called, drawing the dark haired man’s attention back to her. The Nurse bit her lip for a moment before continuing, looking up at him with big green eyes. “You know she’s still waiting for you. She’s not bonded with anyone else and is waiting every day for you to come back.”</p>
<p>A tired sigh escaped Cole’s lips, the man running his fingers through his curly hair and shaking his head. He just continued shuffling out the door, replying to the Pokegirl behind him so softly it was almost impossible to hear. “Yeah… I know...”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Ripples</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>When Austin woke up, he was surprised to see the morning sunlight peering its way through the door. It had only been a little after the mid-afternoon when he had passed out, but it was clearly apparent that he had slept through the night. His stomach made a grumbling sound that went along with an ache of pain, reminding him that he hadn’t eaten anything at all since he had woke up in the weird world of Pokegirls.</p>
<p>Just thinking about where he has reminded him of what he had done, the sandy-haired young man looking beside him. A small pang of disappointment went through him when he noticed the lack of Suzuka. While he didn’t honestly think that the Pokegirl would have chosen to stay, Austin thought that he would have at least gotten a chance to say goodbye to the Ronin. He sighed for a moment before sitting up straight in the bed, feeling the covers slide down his form. The young man looked up and was greeted by the half naked form of Suzuka, the girl’s slender eyebrows brought down into that familiar concentrated look, her fingers working a needle and thread into the tattered ruins of her robes.</p>
<p>“Good morning.” The Pokegirl said, a soft smile crossing her lips as she looked up her work, placing it down revealing that she wore only the sarashi around her breasts. “Suzuka glad to see you awake.”</p>
<p>The sandy-haired young man blinked at the girl, a soft smile crossing his lips before confusion filtered through his mind. Why was the girl speaking in third person? Austin pushed the thought aside for the moment and dressed himself in his pants, moving beside the Pokegirl. “Glad to see you’re better. Want some help with that?” he asked, nodding to the robe. She offered it up without complaint, watching as he took the needle, moving the metal through the fabric with practiced ease.</p>
<p>“Impressive. Suzuka could never get handle on that.” She said, even as a frown crossed her lips. The dark-haired woman let out an annoyed sigh before bringing her eyes back up to his. “You meant what you said… when Suzuka feral, didn’t you?”</p>
<p>Austin nodded, pursing his lips a little as he stitched together the biggest tear in the robes, a rip that nearly went from the left arm all the way to the shoulder. The work was a patch job at best, and it would only take a little while for the entire thing to come apart all over again, but it would do until a replacement could get be obtained. “I did, Suzuka. I only wanted you to be able to think and fight again. It doesn’t feel right to otherwise restrain you.”</p>
<p>“Why?” She asked, the question sudden and curious. The very word brought the Jumper away from his work and to bring his attention to the girl in full. Her eyes were as sharp as ever, but there was a softness in them, one that Austin hadn’t seen before. It reminded the AUJ a little of that heated passion from yesterday and the young man had to fight off the blush that threatened to rush back up to his cheeks.</p>
<p>“I don’t feel right trying to own you. Part of it is my upbringing, I know, but I also owe you my life. If you hadn’t found me when you did, I’d likely not be sitting here right now. Repaying you by trying to make you ‘mine’ in that sense without giving you a choice doesn’t sit well for me. I’d rather give you the choice, even if it hurts me in the long run, than to force someone who saved my life into doing something like that.” Austin replied, his tone subdued. Say what you wanted about him, the AUJ felt indebted to the Ronin. He would repay the kindness, no matter what it took.</p>
<p>Suzuka continued to stare at him, searching him much like she had the night before. It didn’t have the aggressiveness that he had seen the night before, something that Austin was beginning to think was part of the Feral nature of Pokegirls. This time around, however, she seemed to be judging him, thinking. The Ronin remained that way for a few moments longer before nodding, her lips in a thin line. “Then Suzuka will remain with you.”</p>
<p>“Wait, what?” Austin said, blinking in surprise. While the fantasy of having Suzuka stay had played once in the young man’s mind before, it didn’t make any logical sense to him that she’d remain. Sure, a vast majority of the Jumper’s logic went up and out the window the moment that he had been pulled into this world, but it still rankled him something fierce to have that fail him now.</p>
<p>The Ronin gave him a small smile, her lips just barely curling up to be noticeable. It was something that succeeded in bringing a blush to the AUJ’s face. The Pokegirl took the robes out of Austin’s hands, his work mostly done, and shifted the cloth about her slender shoulders, tying the sash around her hips. Raising her hand, her eyes narrowed lightly in focus. The slender wooden blade that had slain the Sideviper returned to her grip, the dark-haired woman’s fingers gripping hard around the hilt. She turned her head to him as she sheathed it past her sash, tightening it a bit to hold it in place. “You respect Suzuka. You care about honor, respect it. Suzuka could do much worse for Suzuka’s tamer.”</p>
<p>“Are you certain? I don’t want to force you into this...” Austin said, one part excited, another concerned.</p>
<p>The Pokegirl smirked at the young man before her, nodding to him. “You’re not forcing Suzuka at all. This all Suzuka’s choice. Besides...” She paused, pursing her lips and looking at him with half lidded eyes, a small hint of that smoldering passion from the night before returning in her gaze. The sight alone made Austin’s heart leap in his throat and made his lower regions tighten in excitement. “Suzuka wouldn’t mind another taming like that again.”</p>
<p>The Jumper nodded, a small goofy smile crossing his face. “Alright then… I guess let’s make this official.”</p>
<p>~oOo~</p>
<p>The Tamer Test was an unusual thing. It was clearly designed for the lowest common denominator when it came to general knowledge, though whether if that was alternated universe jumpers like himself, they just wanted everyone to pass, or if the people of this reality were just that stupid, Austin wasn’t sure. Considering part of the ‘test’ read and answered more like a personality quiz than testing someone’s knowledge on Pokegirls made the young man think it was the middle option.</p>
<p>Dalaa had served as a good font of knowledge to answer any of the young man’s questions after the test had been finished. The first, and most concerning one, was why Suzuka’s was speaking in the third Person. That had gotten a small squeal of excitement from the Nurse, the girl hugging Austin tight and making him aware, once again, of just how top heavy the girl was.</p>
<p>Alpha bonds, the Pokegirl explained once she had stop trying to suffocate him by breast flesh, were a sort of a psychic bond that formed between Pokegirl and Tamer sometimes after they’ve had sex. For a lot of ‘girls in the world, the bond made them see the Tamer in question as a pack leader, someone to follow and obey. While they still had their free will and thoughts, it simply made them more naturally willing to go along with their Tamers. It was also the lowest of the three bonds that existed, Delta Bonds and Recognition being the ones afterwards. The forming of any bond, but Alpha ones especially, caused something called Feral Shock and was the reason why Suzuka was speaking the way she was. Thankfully, it would wear off eventually.</p>
<p>Delta Bonds were a great deal stronger than the Alphas. The Tamer and Pokegirl were much more closely linked psychically, to the point where emotions and sensations could be shared between the two. This had both its positives and its negatives. The Pokegirls could sense, to an extent, what their masters or mistresses wanted and could even share their own feelings back to the humans. It also was a mark of how close and accepting the two became with each other.</p>
<p>That didn’t change the fact that Delta Bonds also were looked down upon thanks to how they worked. With such a close bond of the minds between Tamer and Pokegirl, sending the ‘girl in battle ended up having a rather unfortunate setback: Backlash from the Pokegirl being harmed. While normal battle damage was something that didn’t get shared between the two, a loss of limb or actual death slammed hard into the Tamer’s mind. While it was survivable, the mental pounding that one took from that was enough encouragement for most people to avoid it.</p>
<p>Recognition was something that, even with the crazy world and the existence of bonds being explained to him, sounded just impossible to Austin. That particular bond was nothing less than ‘love at first sight’, an all consuming desire between human and Pokegirl that made them pretty much destined lovers. It was insanely rare, from what Dalaa had described, but it did happen and for most it was something that had ended their careers as Tamers.</p>
<p>“I don’t think you’ll have anything to worry about it, though, Austin.” Dalaa had said with a small grin on her pouting lips. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard of anyone who was a Jumper getting a Recognition Bond. Heck, I’ve only ever seen one in my life, so that tells you just how often they’ll happen.”</p>
<p>After getting updated on that, Austin just had to go through a psychic evaluation while his test was being graded. If mental bonds between human and Pokegirl were a thing, it was only logical that true psychic powers were something that was very much a reality. The woman who’d be doing the evaluation took roughly half an hour to see him, not living near the center at all, but when she did arrive, Austin’s sense of reality just about broke.</p>
<p>She was a tall woman, her skin color a bright blue stood out sharply against the red of the Pokecenter. She was curvy, with a modest bosom and hips that swayed with each step, and the AUJ wondered just if there was any girl in this world that didn’t have a figure that distracted at best. Her uniform was skintight, of course, emphasizing her breasts and hips and making it all that much harder to focus. It was when Austin’s eyes broke from the figure of the attractive Pokegirl that he recognized exactly what she was. A pair of long antennae started from her forehead, arching behind her and reaching down to the small of her back, thick as his arm and recognizable to any science fiction fan born in the last three decades.</p>
<p>“Ok, no.” Austin said, standing up from his spot in the examination room, a small growl in his voice. The blue skin girl blinked, tilting her head as she watched the young man rant before her. “I’ll accept that I’m in an alternate reality with women altered to require sex to stay sane. I accept that there are things like magic and psychic powers. I’m even okay with the idea of becoming a tamer to live in this world. I draw the freaking line at Twi’lek’s being a thing in this world.”</p>
<p>The Pokegirl crossed her arms beneath her breasts, raising an eyebrow at him. Her red eyes glowed a blue for a few moments, eyes locking with Austins. She nodded once as the power ebbed away, letting a small ‘ah’ in understanding. She smiled at him as she moved over to the chair before the AUJ, sitting back against it. “I think you’ll find that I’m not the only Pokegirl based off something you know well, young Austin.” The Twi’lek said, the slight sound of a french accent to her words. That if France or it’s language even existed in this world.</p>
<p>Austin let out a small annoyed release of his breath, running his hand through his sandy hair. He knew, deep down, that he should just added this to the pile of ‘things he just had to accept’ about this universe. But seeing a Pokegirl who looked like she stepped out of an erotic Star Wars porno, more real than anything else he had ever seen in those movies, was simply rejected by his mind. “Its… just so...” he started, his tongue freezing in his mouth as he tried to push out the thoughts, unable to compute the simple reality before him. “I mean… WHY?”</p>
<p>“Who knows?” She replied, shrugging a bare skinned blue shoulder. “A lot of us Pokegirls were designed by Sukube, if the history books are true, and there are many others that are based off things from just about everywhere. There’s one breed of girl that’s based of a video game from another Jumpers world, from what I’ve been told. What was it called… Fantasy of Finals?” The pretty face of the Twi’lek scrunched up as she tried to recall the memory before shaking it away.</p>
<p>“Fine.. Just fine..” Austin muttered, rolling his eyes. It was stupid, completely illogical to ignore the reality that stood before him. The Pokegirl existed. There was absolutely nothing that he could do to stop that fact before him. “What exactly do you need me to do?”</p>
<p>“Just sit there, sir. Relax. Don’t resist my probing and we should be done shortly.” The Twi’lek said, chuckling a little. “Oh, and just so you know, I’m an Ishtar, not this ‘star wars alien’ you know of.”</p>
<p>The young man nodded, doing his best to remain calm and to let the psychic girl do her job. Her eyes glowed once more, turning her red eyes blue. He could feel her push into his mind, a tiny gentle force of pressure that wiggled and squirmed at the center of his forehead. It moved right and left, searching through his thoughts before retreating, the Ishtar’s eyes returning to normal. The entire experience wasn’t unpleasant, but that didn’t stop the small shiver that ran up and down the sandy-haired young man’s spine.</p>
<p>“Interesting mind, sir. Very logical. I can see why seeing me was such a shock. I’m also able to see you’ve already bonded with a girl, a Ronin at that! Quite impressive.” The Pokegirl said with a smile crossing her lips.</p>
<p>Austin shrugged, fighting off a blush and turning his eyes away from the blue skinned woman before him. “I didn’t even know it was a thing at first. Almost nearly wanted to let Suzuka go right then and there. It took both her and Dalaa convincing me it doesn’t impact a threshold girls thoughts as much as it does a feral to make me feel better about the whole thing.”</p>
<p>“Just so.” She responded, tilting her head forward in a slight nod. “As it stands, though, you’ve got quite a strong mind, sir. I see no desire to abuse the Pokegirls powers or to go against the League itself, which are the main concerns. It’s also rare to find someone with your level of logic, out of place as you are in this world. I worry a tad about that honor of yours, but considering how it’s rewarded you with a rather interesting Pokegirl, I’d simply suggest that you should be wary with who you let yourself become indebted to. There are those who’d abuse your good will.”</p>
<p>The AUJ nodded, relaxing slightly in his seat. “I take it that I passed the examination then?”</p>
<p>“With flying colors, good sir.” The Ishtar responded with an impish grin. “I dare say that with a little experience in our world and a bit of training under your belt, you can become quite the Tamer. I’ll be quite interested to see where you stand in a years time.”</p>
<p>A small laugh escaped the Jumper, shaking his head lightly. “We’ll see. I’m not sure how serious I’m wanting to go with this just yet. Kinda just became a Tamer for Suzuka more than anything else. Not sure what I’m going to do after that.”</p>
<p>“I understand, though I stand by my statement. The only suggestion I could give would be to try, put forth an effort into your new role.” The Pokegirl smiled, winking at him slyly before leaving through the door, her voice carrying into the room. “At the very least, it will get you a few more girls to warm your bed at night.”</p>
<p>~oOo~</p>
<p>Austin smiled softly down at the shiny new red Pokedex that he held in his hands, the little screen in it’s center displaying a recently taken picture of himself, a little information about himself detailing beside it. The small device worked as scanner, encyclopedia, phone, and more that was all built into something that could survive anything outside of a steamroller running over it. Or, as he was told, any Pokegirl who was known for strength.</p>
<p>“Looks like we’re all official now.” The Jumper said to Suzuka, watching as the Pokegirl slowly ate her lunch, the girl sitting across from him at the small table in the center’s little alcove for those needing to eat, small bits of rice trapped between chopsticks moving past her lips. He had his own meal before the Test, hunger having demanded attention above all else first. Austin was more than a little glad to find things like meat existed in this world. After hearing Cole's history lesson, he had been a little afraid that the world would have taken a page out of Demolition Man and the AUJ wasn’t willing to test his stomach against a rat burger, no matter how hungry he was.</p>
<p>“You’ve been ‘official’ since last night, Austin.” Dalaa called out from her desk, her tone teasing and filled with laughter. The comment made the young man blush, but he shook it off. Only a day around the Nurse had told him that the Pokegirl did little, if anything, by half measures.</p>
<p>Suzuka finished her meal and placed the chopsticks across her bowl, looking up to the male across from her. “So, what is our plan from this point onwards?” The Ronin asked, those sharp eyes on Austing again. He wondered for a moment if he’d ever get used to that almost hawk like gaze coming from the girl, part of him hoping to see that passionate gaze again.</p>
<p>“I’m not sure, honestly. At this point I just became a Tamer to make sure that no one would go after you. I’m not sure where to go from here.” He said, shrugging his shoulders lightly. His answer got another smile from the Pokegirl, the dark-haired woman bowing her head softly to him. A breath escaped him, Austin leaning back against his chair. “At this point, I’m kinda just following what the others were suggesting.”</p>
<p>Dalaa had taken that moment to appear, grabbing the pairs empty dishware with a smile. “Well, you’re at least partially expected to do the basics of a Tamer now, Austin. Protecting towns and cities from feral Pokegirls, capturing the ferals themselves to lower their numbers, and just being a general help when needed. Most people tend to use the Quest system now to ensure work.”</p>
<p>Confusion and annoyance warred within the sandy-haired teen for a moment. He hated not knowing things, being ignorant of the world around him, but he pushed that away. He’d focus on learning later, reading as much as he could to make sure he’d be better prepared in the future. “What’s the Quest system?” he asked.</p>
<p>“It’s a system to encourage and entice Tamers to do more than to just sit on their butts all day.” Cole said, the sudden sound of his voice making Austin jump in his seat a bit as the curly-haired man walked through the entrance of the Center. Suzuka turned her head to the man, giving him a polite nod to which Cole responded in kind. It made the Jumper wonder what the exact relationship the two had outside of knowing each other.</p>
<p>“Mind elaborating on that a bit?”</p>
<p>The dark-haired man chuckled before pointing to an option at the bottom of the Pokedex that Austin had missed. It was labeled ‘Quests’ and, after selecting it from the menu, linked to page after digital page of requests. They were structured in a straightforward way. The person who had submitted job had their named listed at the top, followed by a small description of what the job entailed. The particular one that Austin was looking at was about trying to get a small pack Hamtits out of a local garden. Below that was the payment and after that was a rating of the request itself, stating that no badges were required.</p>
<p>“It’s something the League came up with a while back.” Cole said with a nod to Pokedex. “Mostly there to encourage folks to be a little more helpful and even to keep tabs on a few of them. They’ve got a few Video girls working around the system to make sure everything is on the level, but otherwise most of the system is controlled by humans.”</p>
<p>Austin nodded, letting out a small click of his tongue against his teeth. Video Girls, he guessed, were probably some kind of tech based Pokegirls if their job was to take care of the system in the Pokedex. “What’s the whole badges things?”</p>
<p>“That’s a majority of where the ‘encouraging’ comes in. The Gyms are locations where folks can train and learn. Each one of them has a Leader.” Cole commented, leaning against the wall with a small grunt. “Originally, the badges were something you could get from defeating them in battle and, once you collected enough of them, could allow you into a tournament. Not everyone was into the sports style of those battles, though, and so the League made it a mark of experience as well. The more badges you’ve got, the more the League expects you to know your stuff as well as to ensure you’ve got a half way decent power level for the more difficult Quests. We’ve actually had less injuries ever since they implemented it.”</p>
<p>The Jumper nodded in understanding. The system sounded a little gamey, but if there was any way you could guarantee that others would do something you wanted them to do, the best way was to make a game out of it. Or a competition. Sometimes both. “So, think I should start doing these quests then? I don’t exactly just want to hold up in the Center and be a bother to Dalaa the entire time.”</p>
<p>Dalaa smirked at Austin’s question, the sight alone making him wince. He was beginning to learn to be afraid of the pink-haired woman’s smile, especially if it looked like she had some plan or thought herself very smart. “Well, I thought that today you can work together with one of our regulars.” She said, sauntering a bit closer to the group. “Yuel’s holding a small lesson about battles today and since that’s one of the more important aspects of being a Tamer, I think that’s probably the best if you and Suzuka went to the lesson.”</p>
<p>“I still think that it’s going a little overboard tossing him to ‘The Battleaxe’ like that.” Cole joked, a wolf grin on his face.</p>
<p>Austin couldn’t stop his eyebrows raising up into his hairline, glancing back and forth between man and Pokegirl. “The Battleaxe, huh?”</p>
<p>The Nurse Joy couldn’t help but give Cole a slightly annoyed glare before turning a rather uneasy smile towards Austin. “He’s not exactly the easiest guy to be around, I’ll admit. He’s also rather...” She paused trying to search for the right words. “...assertive… with his stance on how battles should be conducted, but you’ll also be hard pressed to find someone whose a better battler than him here in River Pass.”</p>
<p>Looking over to the Pokegirl across from him, Austin shrugged softly at Suzuka, a little lost. “I guess it couldn’t hurt to at least get one lesson in how to fight. What do you think?”</p>
<p>She nodded, Suzuka standing up in a smooth, soft motion. A small grin stretched across her face, as if there was something that she knew that Austin didn’t. “I think we should see this for ourselves, Austin. At worse, we would simple lose a bit of time.”</p>
<p>With a smile, Austin agreed with the Ronin. He stood up as well, turning to Dalaa. “Alright, so where and when is this lesson?”</p>
<p>~oOo~</p>
<p>Austin and Suzuka weren’t the only ones to come to ‘Yuel’s Training Seminar’, as the large white banner across the side of the Center’s wall advertised, and the Jumper was more than a little surprised just how many other Tamers and Pokegirls both were there. With the reputation preceding him, the AUJ was fully expected this area to be deserted.</p>
<p>“Hey, what the hell?! You’ve got Suzuka!” Yelled the closest of the tamers there, a rather squat, pale man with beady eyes and a flat nose, the moment the Ronin came into view. His words caught the entire groups attention, several sets of eyes zeroing in on the Pokegirl. Austin moved before her, wishing for a moment that he had a more impressive visage then being a slightly bulky man that looked like he belonged more in the middle of a library instead of a football team. Behind him, he could hear the sound of his Pokegirl drawing her blade.</p>
<p>“Well? I’d like an explanation!” Mr. Flat Nose said, doing his absolute best to appear menacing. He flexed, but Austin had seen more definition in a loaf of bread and wasn’t at all impressed his attempted show of power. “I’ve tried harder than anyone else in this damn town to make that Ronin mine and you just waltz in here and grab her?!”</p>
<p>Suzuka let out a small sound of disgust and anger, taking a step forward with her weapon rising in her hand. Austin waved her back, causing her to blink in surprise before she nodded and pulled back. “If you’ve lost that many times to Suzuka, I don’t think you’re worthy of her in the first place.” Austin stated, his tone hard and clipped. Logically, the Jumper knew that Pokegirls were property in this world, bought, sold, traded, and even used in betting. As far as the laws were concerned, he owned the Ronin now. But the fact that this man was shoving the fact in his face, pushing in front of Austin that he had tried to capture Suzuka for his own pleasures made anger flare up within the AUJ. “How Suzuka and I got together is no business of yours. So I’d suggest you back off.”</p>
<p>The words got a sharp reaction out of everyone present. Suzuka’s eyes widened but a small, approving smile crossed her lips. She had caught the fact that Austin didn’t lay any claim on her. The surrounding Tamers and Pokegirls looked on with a mixture of interest and curiosity, though there was also a few jealous glances here and there to prove the fact that Suzuka had been a rather sought after woman. Flat Nose wasn’t anywhere near as receptive to his words. He puffed up like a pale toad, fists clenching and unclenching in pure fury. “The fuck did you say?!” the man spat, taking another aggressive step forward.</p>
<p>Austin opened his mouth again to tell the Flat Nose to back off when a monstrous sized black wing slammed down before him, catching the words in his throat and stopping the aggressive Tamer’s forward movement. Turning his head, the Jumper widened his eyes at the owner of the large appendage, that being an equally large Pokegirl.</p>
<p>She was incredibly massive woman, being a good two heads taller than even Austin, and the wing she had slammed down turned out to be her arm. The black of her feathers covered mostly just her wings and a bit of what could be seen of her back, leaving her copper skin mostly exposed baring a rather ill-forming leather top that could barely constrained the absolutely mammoth breasts she had. Her face was sharp, with narrow eyes, a slanted nose, and thin lips that were in full view thanks to the fact that she was completely bald. The avian Pokegirl took a step forward, showing off powerful and wicked looking taloned feet, before turning to glare at Flat Nose.</p>
<p>“Starting up things again, Wendell?” She asked, flicking a small bit of dust from her wing and glaring down at Flat Nose, the man barely came eye level with her breasts. “I thought after the last seminar you would have learn not to shoot off that mouth of yours.”</p>
<p>Wendell gritted his teeth into something that could only be loosely called a smile, stepping back from the huge Pokegirl. “I was only trying to found out how he got Suzuka, Nurono. Even you’ve got to admit that it’s interesting to see her with any tamer, considering she’s been out in that forest for over a year now.”</p>
<p>Nurono nodded, turning her narrow eyes over to Austin and Suzuka, the later sliding her blade back under her sash. A smile graced those narrow lips before giving the pair a small bow of her head. “Glad to see you found someone that finally strikes your fancy, Suzu. Thought you’d be roaming those trees forever.”</p>
<p>A small, silky laugh erupted from the Ronin at that, making the Jumper’s mouth drop in surprise. He hadn’t expected the Pokegirl’s laugh to be so… cute! It almost distracted him enough that he nearly failed to catch her reply. “I hope you don’t take it as a slight to your own tamer, Nuro, but Austin here impressed me. He has an honor I’ve found lacking in others.”</p>
<p>The Jumper couldn’t help but look between the two Pokegirls, confusion mounting as he turned to Suzuka. That was nothing compared to the eye bulging surprise Wendell had at the conversation. “You two know each other?” Austin asked, curious about the history that Suzuka had before she met him.</p>
<p>“They met when we were all taking down a Buzzbreast Hive that was forming on the edge of the forest.” A new voice said, drawing everyone’s attention to it’s speaker. He, like Nurono before him, had narrow eyes and a sharp nose, dark hair an unruly mop on his head, and he had a smile which showed at least two missing teeth. He stepped with a small limp on his right side, but he otherwise held himself strong and straight. The man nodded over to Suzuka, grinning widely. “And I see you’re still as headstrong as ever.”</p>
<p>Suzuka nodded back with her own smile, stepping closer to Austin and wrapping her arm around his. “Perhaps, but I think I’ve made a good decision, Yuel.”</p>
<p>Narrow eyes moved from the Pokegirl over to Austin, the sandy-haired teen gulping a little as he felt those judging dark eyes gaze into his. The stare held for what felt like hours before Yuel nodded once more, a smirk replacing the grin. “Well, then, I guess I’ll have to make sure this lesson is one that your Tamer will remember.”</p>
<p>Yuel left the pair be after that, Nurono following after him, the bird Pokegirl near shoving Wendell of his feet as she brushed past him. The squat man let out another low growl, but didn’t look like overly eager to try anything against her. Austin shook his head, feeling like he had been judged by this man that Cole had named ‘The Battleaxe’. “So, should I be worried about him, Suzuka?” he asked softly, looking at the Ronin beside him.</p>
<p>“Only when he gets serious, Austin… which should be right about… now.” The swordswoman said, pointing to Yuel just as he limped his way into the middle of the group.</p>
<p>“<b>A</b><b>LRIGHT, PILLOCKS! LINE UP!</b>” Yuel roared, the man’s tone going from friendly to drill sergeant with the flip of a switch. The effect of the change was immediate on the gathered men and Pokegirls, all of them forming a long line before the Battleaxe. Austin himself was at the far end, wondering just where that man had gotten that demanding presence from.</p>
<p>The man walked back and forth between the ends of the assembled Tamers before him, most of them having their Pokegirls standing immediately behind them. The only ones who hadn’t done that was Austin, who didn’t know what to expect, and Wendell, who hadn’t had any Pokegirl at all by his side. Yuel nodded as he looked at each of the Tamers in turn before standing in the middle of them once more.</p>
<p>“You are all here,” Yuel said, dark eyes roaming the gathered people before him, “because you are all interested in the art of battle. Some of you have been here before...” Wendell got a look for that comment. “But most of you are either new enough or bad enough to battling that you’re wanting a crash course. I’ll warn you now, I’m not easy, nor will I take any shit from you or your girls. If you can’t handle that, leave now… or leave when Nurono tosses your ass over the fence. Choice is yours.”</p>
<p>That got a lot of the other Tamers looking at each other, some concerned, a few looking a bit put off. None of them left, though. Yuel nodded once more before moving a bit closer, singling out a rather mousy little Tamer who had bright blue hair that, as far as Austin could tell, was one hundred percent natural. “You,” Yuel said, his tone sharp. “Tell me. How do you normally battle with your Pokegirls?”</p>
<p>Mousy blinked at being singled out, but he stood up a bit straighter and responded. “I let them fight as they see fit, sir. I figured that they know how to fight with their skills better than I do.”</p>
<p>His answer got a lot of nods from the other tamers, more than a few of them commenting on how they either did the same thing or something like that. Yuel nodded, rubbing his chin. “Understandable, especially for certain Pokegirls, they’ll probably be better skilled than most of us will ever be when it comes to their skills. Regardless...” The Battleaxe’s eyes narrowed as he drew in a breath, shouting his next words. “<b>YOU’RE DOING IT WRONG!</b>”</p>
<p>The mousy Tamer jumped back at the shout, eyes wide in surprise. His pokegirl, an actual mouse girl with big ears, fur, and a tail, moved a bit closer, ready to protect him.</p>
<p>Yuel strode back to his original position, turning back to Mousy with a sharp glare. “Expecting a Pokegirl to completely fight on her own is not only idiotic, but it’s also the best way to get yourself and them killed. A Tamer is more than just a walking, talking dick to keep your Pokegirls tamed.” The Battleaxe strode now, limping his way back and forth before them like a hungry predator. “A Tamer’s job is to be your Pokegirl’s tactician. They’re the brawn, you must be the brains. It’s not even a simple matter just knowing the type advantages, either. You’ve got to know who you’re fighting, how they fight, how the battlefield can be used to turn the tide, when they’re planning to hit your ‘girl’s weak side, and when to run.”</p>
<p>All of the tamers didn’t even try to keep quiet this time, muttering and a few angry arguments, a few glares even being aimed at Yuel. The Pokegirls there just looked a bit confused, most of which were looking to their tamers with curious eyes. Yuel ignored them all, zeroing in one the closest Tamer who was making the loudest stink of the group. “You think I’m just blowing smoke, Jaden?”</p>
<p>Jaden, a lanky guy with a few nose rings and tattoos, glared up at Yuel, crossing his arms around his chest. “My girls are perfectly capable of fighting on their own. You act like shouting out at them like we were in some kids show is suddenly going to make them fighters and I say that’s nothing but Minotaura shit.”</p>
<p>Yuel nodded for a moment before crooking his finger at Jaden, leading the young man out before the rest of the group. His Pokegirl, a red-haired lithe female with visible green vines tipped with thorns wrapping around her arms, followed after him. Her outfit was nothing more than leaves that covered most of her form, hiding her unmentionables. They stood on the opposite sides of the little field that the seminar was taking place. “We’ll see just how well your girl battles, just to show how much of what I’m saying is ‘Minotaura shit’.” Yuel said with a harsh tone.</p>
<p>The grass themed girl looked over to her tamer, a thin eyebrow raised up before he nodded to her in return. Getting confirmation, the girl let the vines around her arms trail downwards to the ground, a wide, crazed smile crossing her face.</p>
<p>Yuel just kept a passive look on his face, his eyes taking in the sight of the plant based girl before him. He nodded before withdrawing a Pokeball from his pocket. With a toss and a flash of light, another Pokegirl stood in the impromptu battlefield. Her skin was red, a bit duller than the hair of her opponent, and she looked like she was wearing some kind of armor. It was with a start that, as she started moving, Austin realized that what covered her body wasn’t armor but some kind of carapace instead. Instead of hands, the Pokegirl had a pair of claws, one of them that was a good four time larger than the other. She looked like she was part crab more than anything else.</p>
<p>“A freaking Queenler? Against my Cardian? Only an idiot would send out a water type against a plant type!” Jaden said, a laugh bursting from his throat as he shook his head. “Zyra, show them what you’re capable of!”</p>
<p>With a yell, the Cardian thrust her hands forward, the vines around her arms shooting out from the girl like two whips, pointed ends aimed right for the Queenler’s vital points. Yuel wasn’t slow in responding to the attack. “Urana! Counter!” The man yelled out, his expression not changing in the slightest.</p>
<p>Urana clutched her clawed arms close to her body, the Pokegirls body glowing for a moment before a new shine glistened over her form. The vines slammed against her claws, quivered, before reversing entirely as if someone had hit the attack with a tennis racket. Zyra gapped in surprised before getting slammed by her own vines, letting out a small gasp of pain as one of the pointed ends pierced right into her arm.</p>
<p>The Cardian pulled out the offending projectile, turning to look down at her injury, seeing the blood gush lightly from the hole. With a small grunt and closing her eyes in focus, Zyra’s the wound sealed up, a small splotch of pale skin where the injury had been. Glaring with repressed rage, the grass type girl charged in a full sprint. A single thorn jutted out from vines around her arm, growing several times in size in the span of a few moments. Zyra grabbed at the enlarged thorn, yanking it free from her body, and brandished it like a sword, swinging it down with both hands.</p>
<p>“Metal Claw, aim for the wrists!” Yuel commanded. Urana gave the barest of nods at the command, her largest claw shifting colors from it’s dull red to a gray silver.</p>
<p>Moving faster than anyone expected the huge appendage to move, the crab girl captured the attack before it had even descend halfway through the swing. The sharp edges of the claw closed around those wrists and the sound of breaking bones filling the air, followed by Zyra’s cry of pain. The thorn sword fell to the ground, withering away into nothing.</p>
<p>“Finish her off! Seismic Toss!” The Battleaxe roared. His Pokegirl obeyed without hesitation, tugging Zyra off her feet with a simple yank. The Queenler spun around in a circle, releasing her claw once she had completed her rotation and thrust her weapon into the air, releasing her grip on her enemies broken wrists. With a yelp, the Cardian flew no less than twenty feet into the air, spiraling ass over teakettle with no way to stop her momentum. Urana then leaped up, becoming level with the injured grass type in a matter of moments before slamming her claw down right in the girl’s stomach, her body taking the form of a swan dive as she descended, slamming Zyra’s body between her own weight and the stone ground from a two story drop.</p>
<p>Urana stepped off the defeated Pokegirl, moving over to Yuel obediently. The Battleaxe gave the red skinned woman a gentle touch against her cheek before nodding to his side, allowing the Queenler to stand beside him. Jaden just looked down at Zyra. The Cardian was completely unconscious, blood bubbling out of her mouth and her limbs hanging limply at her side. He sighed before pulling out a pokeball, the red beam of light shooting out and absorbing the prone plant girl. The mans face was pinched in a look of anger and embarrassment.</p>
<p>“Now you see what I mean?” Yuel said, his voice loud enough to carry among all of the people viewing the fight, most of the people present silent in shock. “In most fights, Zyra would have been able to defeat my girl with her attack, had she focused on her ranged skills and status effecting abilities. Instead, she let a simple counter infuriate her and went into melee, which is what Queenlers specialize in. That’s not even considering the area around us that could have been used to either one of our advantages.”</p>
<p>“Not to mention the fact that she was wielding that sword around like a baseball bat.” Suzuka said softly to Austin, causing him to nod. The Jumper didn’t know much about how to fight with a weapon himself, but even that had been clear to him.</p>
<p>Yuel limped once more into the center of the group of tamers, looking at each and everyone one of them in turn. Austin noticed that there were quite a few who held a much more respectful gaze to him than before, at least one even standing straighter. “As I said before,” the Battleaxe said in a stern tone. “There’s more to being a Tamer than just being a dick to tame them with. You are there to ensure they fight and fight well. Their eyes in places they can’t normally see. Their strategies they might not think of. You are there to prepare yourself and your girls for as many situations as you can be and to command them when they need it. You protect them by being prepared as much as they protect you for being able to fight.”</p>
<p>All the gathered Tamers nodded, Austin included. Though he didn’t know the exactly what was going on, he got the jist of what just happened. Jaden had mentioned as much in the start. A Plant type like Zyra should have had held an advantage against the Queenler. But Yuel’s tactics and commanding his Pokegirl during the fight had trumped that elemental weakness… and how. The idea that Austin might be able to advise Suzuka in battle the same way was something that the young man now saw as a goal. Probably what Yuel had wanted to inspire in the first place.</p>
<p>“Alright then,” The Battleaxe said with a smile when he noticed all the gathered Tamers ready and paying more attention. “Let’s get started then!”</p>
<p>~oOo~</p>
<p>The mage let out an annoyed grunt as he looked towards the results of his latest spell cast. Once again, the spell hadn’t been exactly what his employer had requested. All the time building that energy for the use of magic as well as gathering the necessary materials had all gone to a complete and total waste. With a small snarl, the magic user spun around and left the remains of his botched work, having no more need for it or the location. He would have to simply find another place to test out the next attempt.</p>
<p>The man was completely ignorant and uncaring of the growing mist behind him, frost starting to form on the walls and floor. A single head lifted up in the darkness, eyes bright as power fluxed, shards of ice bursting from the ground like frozen knives. Pressing a hand against the nearest pillar of ice, the figure drew in strength from the cold.</p>
<p>It needed more.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Author’s Notes: So, this chapter I think is probably the best yet and if there’s one thing it’s taught me more than anything else, it’s this: Do planning for your work. I had outlined this and the next chapters material before sitting down to write it and because of it, I felt I was able to produce a much more entertaining and streamlined set of events. I’m going to be doing this for all my future work so here’s hoping that it’s a constant stream of content from this point onward.</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Frostmelt</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Austin let out a small sigh of relief when he finally trudged through the sliding doors of the Pokecenter, collapsing against the nearest chair to the entrance. Suzuka let out a small chuckle as she sat down beside her tamer, giving him a look. “Looks like we’re going to have to work on your stamina, Austin.” She teased, a wide smile crossing her lips.</p><p>The Jumper gave his Ronin a small lidded look, letting out a small huff of annoyance. “Hey, I wasn’t expecting to be the one running around during a training session that I was originally sold on was to be about training you, Suzuka...” Austin stated, his tone flat. Most of Yuel’s lesson hadn’t been about training Pokegirls, which is what he’d been expecting, but about his own abilities. The Battleaxe emphasized on the tamers ability to evade and run away, focusing on survival should the worst happen. What little that hadn’t been about the Jumper running for his life, as the man’s harem threw attacks at the newbies, had been focusing strategies using the terrain and their Pokegirls natural ability. Between the choice of running for your life from a fireball and listening to a lecture, Austin very much preferred the latter.</p><p>“To be fair, Austin, he was focusing on ensuring that survival was our main focus. People can die in the wilds when they’re not prepared, so escape needs to be an available option.” Suzuka said, her tone soothing as she wrapped her arm around his, giving it a small squeeze. It made the young man grin softly, enjoying the touch. It was only the second time she had ever done so, the woman otherwise keeping to herself, especially when around others. Despite himself, Austin couldn’t help but smile at the feeling of her hand against his arm.</p><p>“I get that… I just wish that it wasn’t so hard on me. I’m not exactly the most athletic of guys around and spent most of my time sitting for the jobs I did.” Austin pointed out, even miming writing on a keyboard, fingers tapping invisible keys before him. “The last few days have been the most exercise I’ve had in probably a year.”</p><p>“We’ll have to work on that, then. Don’t think I’m going to let you just sit around while I’m doing all the work, Mister.” The Pokegirl said with a small smirk, before giving him a slightly smoldering look with her eyes. “Trust me when I say a good work out helps fighting types like myself get more in the mood.”</p><p>That got the heat flowing to Austin’s cheeks again, memories of their first taming returning once more. Maybe exercising wouldn’t be all that bad? It struck the man then just how weird his life had become in just a matter of days. It left him… lost to a point. What exactly was he going to do now? It’s not like he had some goal, nor did he know if his skill set would have any place in this world of Monster girls. And after meeting up with The Battleaxe, he was certain he didn’t want to be a just there to fuck Suzuka when she needed it.</p><p>“So, what exactly are we wanting to do now, Suzuka?” he asked, rubbing at his legs, remembering how he had just barely avoided the razor sharp feathers from Nurono, though he still thought that the bald woman was purposely sending her shots wide as so to not actually hurt anyone.</p><p>“What do you mean, Austin?” The Ronin asked, looking up with a single raised eyebrow.</p><p>“Well, I know from what I’ve learned so far that a lot of Tamers tend to go off and journey the world to build their harems and to just generally see the world. I don’t think I can do that, since I’ve never really been out on my own like that and I don’t think I’m prepared physically just yet.” Austin said. Truth be told, he was a bit worse off than that. He was a stationary man by nature, a lover of computers, books, and video games. While he wasn’t exactly fat by any means, he was drastically enough out of shape that the thought of traveling day after day, with no real end goal in sight, didn’t exactly appeal to him.</p><p>“Well, definitely going to make sure we get you get at least an hour of exercise every day to start out with, Austin.” The Ronin teased again, prodding his shoulder with her right index finger. “We’ll get you at least fit enough that we can keep the option of an actual journey open should we want it. That said, though, I think for now we should just live here and see what we can do. I know some tamers decide to stay in a single city that they enjoy or grew up in, building their harems through Quests and modest treks out into the wilderness. Maybe that could be our goal, make sure you’ve got a half decent harem before we really think about leaving Rivers Pass.”</p><p>The suggestion brought another blush to the Jumpers face, making him look away from his Pokegirl to keep her from noticing. “I’m not sure if I’m exactly comfortable with that, Suzuka. I mean… where I come from, multiple partners like that aren’t exactly the most common… or accepted thing around. Are you sure it would be ok for me to have another Pokegirl when I got you?”</p><p>“Don’t think of it as her replacing me. Think of it as having another partner, one that will watch both of our backs and share our bed.” Suzuka said, even as she squeezed his arm softly in response to his question. It brought Austin’s attention back to his Pokegirls face, allowing him to see the blush dusting her otherwise pale cheeks. “While I really do appreciate thinking about me and wanting me to feel special, Austin, in the end it’s about your safety. Having more Pokegirls in your team won’t just make you have more hands around to help defend you, but will also make it so we could fight in more situations than just relying on my blade.”</p><p>A deep sigh escaped his lips, even as he fought the grin that stretched out over his face. “I get it, no one goes into a fight with a single skill. Better to spread out what we’re capable of than to just rely on you for absolutely everything.”</p><p>Suzuka nodded to her tamer, a small smile crossing her lips. She slipped her arm from Austins, standing before him. “If that’s going to be the goal then I’d suggest we focus on doing Quests. It would allow you to get used to the town a bit more and the surrounding area. Most of the ferals around here aren’t really worth catching, mostly weak girls that most other tamers tend to skip over or use as target practice.”</p><p>Austin nodded, humming to himself as he thought. “So you and that Sideviper were the strongest things in the area?”</p><p>“No, Austin, that honor would go to the Mileeboro. If she caught us in her Bad Breath attack, there’s nothing we could do to stop her from taking us down.” Suzuka corrected, her tone becoming serious as she looked down at her blade. “As for the Sideviper? I don’t even remember seeing that girl in the forest at all until I met you. That actually worries me a little.”</p><p>“Oh? Why’s that?”</p><p>“Sideviper’s are not exactly the most subtle of Pokegirls in the wild. They leave a lot of scaring on the land, especially if they’re chasing after prey. It makes them really easy to track when you can follow their devastation they’ve left in their wake. Outside of the destruction she made when she was chasing after you, Austin? There wasn’t anything to suggest she lived there.” Suzuka explained, gripping the handle of her weapon lightly.</p><p>“Could have she been just new to the area?” Austin asked, his own face twisted as he mulled over the information. Without more knowledge of the fauna of this world, he couldn’t give his own thoughts about what might be likely, but with something as deadly as the Sideviper, he couldn’t see her being forced out of territory without a fight.</p><p>Suzuka’s own face mirrored her tamers, lips dipping down into a frown. “Possible, though I shudder to think of the reason why she’d want for new hunting grounds. Regardless, with her dead, it’s nothing we’ll have to worry about in the future.”</p><p>That got the Jumper to nod, remembering how easily the Ronin had severed the snake’s head, with a wooden blade no less. It reminded him just how powerful the Pokegirl before him could be, that knowledge coupled with the fact that she was far from the strongest force on Earth. Just what else existed in this world?</p><p>Shaking his head free from those thoughts, Austin opened up his Pokedex, scrolling down to the Quest section of the device. He read over the different offers for jobs, raising his eyes at a few of them. “There’s a Quest here for shopping for someone?” he asked aloud, eyebrows risen high.</p><p>“Not every Quest is to go out and kill ten Titmice.” Suzuka pointed out, looking over her tamers shoulder to read the Quests. “Some people just need odd jobs done or need an extra hand to help out with their daily lives. The pay for those aren’t always the best, but it’s good for new tamers to get a bit of starting cash while also helping them learn some skills along the way.”</p><p>Nodding, Austin continued to scroll through the options for the quests, skipping over anything that seemed like it would be too simple to do or was outside his skill set. The fact that there were people asking for cleaning services or finding a lost cat made him tilt his head. Perhaps it didn’t matter what world you lived in, there were still folks that were misusing the system for one reason or another.</p><p>“Ah, here’s one we can do. A guy by the name of Cooper runs a couple of warehouses on the edge of town and it looks like a Pokegirl ended up getting into one of them. He needs help getting it out of there.” Austin said, pointing down to the one of the more recently submitted quests.</p><p>“Sounds like the job for us then. Not only will it get us a bit of money and experience, but the Pokegirl might be a good addition to your harem as well.” Suzuka said with a smile. “Shall we then?”</p><p>~oOo~</p><p>Cooper’s Pack Rat Storage Facilities, Trademarked, lay on the opposite side of the town closest to the river for which it was named. It was a rather plain looking place, nothing more than at least half a dozen large warehouses running down the property. There was a large gate and fence that surrounded the entire place with heavy duty metal bars that would likely ward off most humans. Austin wondered if it would do anything, if at all, to even half the Pokegirls he had seen in his short time in this world.</p><p>The man himself sat at the entrance, being a burly, older man that looked like he had seen his fair share of troubles. He rubbed at the thinning patch of hair atop of his head before taking another drag of his cigarette and tossing it to the ground, stomping on it with his boot. He gave Austin and Suzuka a look before nodding at them. “I take it you two are the ones who took the Quest?” he asked, his voice rough and coming out in a wheeze.</p><p>“Yeah, we are. Mind telling us what’s going on?” Austin replied, stepping forward to offer his hand. Cooper just ignored it as he opened the gate, waving the pair in. The Jumper turned to his Pokegirl with a confused look before shrugging and following after the rude man.</p><p>Keeping up a quick pace, the warehouse owner led them over to the building furthest from the entrance and among the largest of the bunch, matched only by it’s twin next to it. Unlike the rest of its kind, though, this particular unit had seen better days with the front door blown nearly clean off its hinges, just barely clinging onto its former existence. There was a blackened circle that marred the inside of the door and a light mist that billowed out like low fog.</p><p>“Been like this for a few days now.” Cooper rasped out, coughing and spitting off to his left, thankfully away from the tamer and his Pokegirl. “Had some weirdo use this place for like a week or so, payed everything in full and advance, and not a day or so after he left this ‘girl walks in and starts controlling the place. I can’t even get in there without getting attacked.”</p><p>“Were you able to tell what kind of Pokegirl she was? Or what she wanted?” Austin asked, looking at the door once more. There was something about it that struck out as odd to him, though he couldn’t place his finger on what exactly.</p><p>“Like I give a flying Harpy shit about what the animal is? I just want her gone. Kill her, catch her, I don’t care. Just get her out of there so I can start using the place again, alright?” The man snapped. He turned around right after that, not even bothering to give them another look as he headed back to the entrance.</p><p>Austin turned once more to Suzuka, the Ronin giving her tamer a small shrug. “Just what in the blue bloody hell crawled up his ass?” The jumper asked.</p><p>“I don’t know… but then again, not all humans care or are even tolerant of Pokegirls.” Suzuka said with a small frown, stepping closer to the entrance of the storage unit. “Some treat us little better than an annoyance that is better gotten rid of as quickly as possible, though I’ll admit it’s rare to see that here in the Sunshine League.”</p><p>The tamer just shook his head for a moment before looking into the dark room. “So, what do you think we’re up against?”</p><p>“I’m not quite sure. There’s not exactly a shortage of Pokegirls that are capable of forming a mist like this… We should be prepared for just about anything.” Suzuka said, drawing her weapon and holding the blade close. She took a step into the warehouse before nodding back at Austin to follow.</p><p>A wave of cold air hit Austin in the face the moment he moved past the threshold, sending a shiver down his spine and making him hold his arms a bit closer to keep the heat in. Between the sudden drop in the temperature, the slick feeling of frost beneath his shoes and the glossy sheen on the walls, it didn’t take the Jumper long to figure out what we might be fighting. “I’m going to take a wild guess and say Ice is an element Pokegirls can control?” He asked, wondering for a moment how wild the powers these girls could control.</p><p>The black haired Ronin nodded, stepping even slower as she kept her balance. Her hand laid softly on her weapon, fingers just barely wrapped around the hilt. It made Austin wonder for a moment if that meant something in particular compared to the white knuckle grip she had on it when faced against the Sideviper. The pair slowly trudged through the storehouse, passing by mostly boxes and the odd sheet covered furniture. Among the only thing to really stand out in the dimly lit room was an odd symbol that was on the boxes, what looked like an upside down hammer with lighting erupting out from underneath it. It made Austin instantly think of the old legends of Thor.</p><p>Tamer and Pokegirl were roughly half way towards the center of the large depository when a shard of solid ice slammed down before Suzuka’s feet, embedding itself at least a good six inches into the frozen over ground. The attack drew their gaze to a sized mammoth chunk of ice that jutted out of the ground. Out from behind itstepped a naked woman, her steps soft and sure against the iced over floor. She was a shorter girl, her head barely coming up to Suzuka’s nose, with light blue hair that trailed down her back down to her round bottom. Tilting her head to the left, she gazed at the pair with emotionless eyes, the emerald green gaze seeming almost uncaring. With an almost bored uninterested wave of her hand, the ice embodied girl formed a shard of ice into her hand the size of a large dagger before throwing it at the pair before her. Like the first, it landed short of actually harming either tamer or pokegirl, but the threat was obvious. Leave or be skewered.</p><p>“Mind scanning her, Austin? I know a lot of Pokegirls, but she’s too human for me to tell what she is from appearances alone.” Suzuka said, spreading her legs apart into a wide stance, her fingers now gripping her weapon in a tight squeeze.</p><p>Nodding, the tamer pulled out his Pokedex and pointed it at the naked woman, the device taking a moment to scan her. The screen then lit up with something close to the woman before them, though the picture on it had marked differences such as hair. “Says here she’s an Icemaiden, though there’s nothing else on the entry that tells us anything useful. It reads like some guys’ opinion piece.”</p><p>Suzuka let out a small grunt at that, eyes never leaving her frosty foe. A small breath escaped her, letting out a small puff of steam before her lips as she spoke again. “Austin? I want you to leave.”</p><p>“Wait, what?” he asked, absolutely dumbfounded by his Pokegirls request.</p><p>“This isn’t a joke.” The Ronin snapped, turning her head just far enough to look at Austin out of the corner of her eye while still keeping her gaze focused on her enemy. “Icemaiden’s can be dangerous girls as is and I don’t need to worry about her going after you. I’ll be fine on my own.”</p><p>“But what about Yuel’s whole training session?” Austin asked, taking a step forward towards the raven haired woman. “I’m supposed to be there as your eyes and ears, aren’t I? I’m not going to let you go off and fight her without help!”</p><p>It was with the sound akin to that of shattering glass that broke the pair’s argument. The Icemaiden had summoned another dagger sized shard, the crystal shaped weapon floating before her in the air, a crack nearly splitting the thing in two. Clenching her hand together into a fist, the ice shattered into hundreds of tiny splinters, each needle sharp twisting into the air to point directly at them. The slight frown that graced the naked Pokegirls lips was all the warning they had before they went flying.</p><p>“DOWN!” Suzuka cried, pushing Austin to the ground with her free hand. She barely had time to bring her weapon up before the icy projectiles hit home, several of the tiny shards embedding themselves into the Ronin’s skin and tearing at her robes. Gritting her teeth in pain, the swords-woman charged forward only to nearly lose her footing on the icy floor, tripping right into one of the crates.</p><p>Shoulder skidding against the slick ground, Austin pushed himself up and growled. He didn’t go into the woods to face off against that stupid snake just for Suzuka to get skewered by a living icepop. Grabbing one of the smaller boxes nearby, the man lifted the entire thing above his head before tossing it at the Icemaiden.</p><p>The wooden projectile was met with a lance of ice leaping out from the woman’s outstretched hand, piercing through the box with ease. It fell to the ground with a resounding crash, breaking open and scattering it’s contents onto the floor, unmarked cans and other things that he couldn’t quite make out rolling about. The maiden’s eyes narrowed and locked with Austins after that, lips parting to show teeth. It made a chill go through his veins that had nothing to do with the cold.</p><p>Regaining her composure from the slip, Suzuka let out a low growl. She tested her balance on the icy ground and then looked at the crate she had ran into, running her hand against the cold wood. A grin spread across her lips as she leapt onto the surface, crouching down to spring off the makeshift platform, her sword up high to strike down on the feral Pokegirl.</p><p>It missed by scant inches, Suzuka’s weapon embedding itself into the ground beside the Icemaiden as she slid backwards, her feet gliding on the frozen surface like an ice skater. Baring her teeth even more, the pale-haired woman darted back towards Suzuka with ease, her hand crystallizing into a solid block of ice. It slammed hard into the Ronin’s stomach, stealing her breath, her weapon vanishing as she slid across the ground into the nearby wall with a heavy thump.</p><p>“Suzuka!” Austin cried out, fists clenching to his side as he tried to figure out what to do. The Icemaiden had the home advantage here, with ranged attacks and the skill to use them. It’s exactly the kind of things that Yuel had warned against, to make sure you didn’t leave yourself completely at the mercy of any feral you went against. More often than not, the wild Pokegirls would just go for the kill on a human if they weren’t in the mood for a taming. He paused at that thought. What if he used that to his advantage? Leaping out from his cover, the Jumper let out another yell to get the feral Pokegirls attention, running as best he could without falling flat on his face.</p><p>Shards of ice started raining down on the man not ten feet out from his cover. The Icemiaden seemed to no longer be playing around with her foes, forming crystal into her hands only to shatter them and fling the scattered remains at the AUJ. Most were wide of their mark, thanks to Austin’s constant movement, but the sheer volume allowed the projectiles to get some hits in with the ice slicing at his legs and arms.</p><p>“Come on, you frigid bitch! You can do better than that!” Austin roared, ignoring the pain surging through his limbs as best he could, stopping at the far end of the warehouse. The ice and cold was weakest here, away from the Maiden and her icy pillar, and he demonstrated much as he jumped around. “You couldn’t hit me with the biggest snowball in Chicago!”</p><p>The Jumper quickly realized his mistake in angering a snow powered Pokegirl as a light blue aura started to pulse off the female. Her long white hair started to float up into the air like it was caught in some updraft as her hands raised up to the sky. In answer, the giant pillar she had emerged behind shook and rumbled for a moment before lifting out of the ground. It was with a single clench of both fists that the Pokegirl shattered the man sized shard of ice into thousands of razor sharp needles.</p><p>“Austin, RUN!” Suzuka’s voice came, standing up while clenching her stomach with one hand. Her sword had reappeared in the other, showing that his Pokegirl was still able to fight. It wouldn’t be a long one, though, if they kept on getting pelted like this.</p><p>“Right! Run AT her, now!” Austin shouted back to his Pokegirl, instantly charging at the Maiden at full speed. Both Pokegirls looked in surprise at the humans insane attack before recovering. With narrowed eyes, the frozen female launched her attack, raining down all of her frozen frenzy onto the human. Suzuka was a moment behind, her wooden weapon held close to her hip as she ran across the ice.</p><p>The Jumper got to the fearl first, slamming all of his weight into the smaller woman. She didn’t budge, her feet firm and rooted to the ice below. Shoving back against the human, the frozen woman once again formed ice around her hand. But instead of the solid brick she had hit Suzuka with, this time she summoned a blade.</p><p>A single slash whipped out from the Pokegirl and all Austin knew after that point was the searing pain across his right eye, blood blinding him as he screamed. The dripping line of red on the Icemaiden’s blade froze over in a moment, the ice type looking over the result of her attack. She only savored the sight for a moment before Suzuka’s bokken came down and separated the blade from the Pokegirl, hand and all. Pale blue eyes went wide at the sight of her disembodied limb, her body still before the scream erupted out of her. Power of ice and snow blasted out from around her body, the girl falling to her knees and clutching at the stump of her hand, ignorant about how her elemental strength had blasted the ronin and human away from her.</p><p>“Austin! Throw the damn Pokeball!” Suzuka screamed, arm covered in frost and her lips blue. Austin could barely nod his understanding, pain making the world spin. He still gripped the sphere he had gotten before from his pocket, enlarging it with a button press. The Jumper threw the ball at their frozen foe with all of his remaining strength behind it. Sailing through the air, it smacked right into the center of the prone woman’s head and opened wide, absorbing her completely in a flash of red light. It fell to the ground a moment later, shaking a few times before a click sounded of the capture.</p><p>Without the Icemaiden to enforce the cold, warm air immediately rushed into the room, feeling like someone had just taken a blow dryer to to entire place. Austin grinned over at his Pokegirl, giving her a small nod of a job well done before the pain of his injury and the lost of blood took its toll. With a sway and a stagger, he fell to the ground, darkness claiming him before he could ever hit the frost covered floor.</p><p>~oOo~</p><p>Bright lights and a sterile ceiling greeted Austin when he awoke, the sound of beeping echoing in his ears from a small heart monitor that was beside the patients bed he laid upon. Only one of his eyes could open, but he was fairly certain that was because the other had a bandage wrapped tightly around it. He let out a small groan as the situation hit him. “Damn it, I’m living a freaking episode of Evangelion…”</p><p>“You’re lucky to be living at all after all that.” A female voice snapped. Austin turned his head and found his vision nearly instantly flooded with a large pair of breasts. Between that and the voice, it didn’t take the Jumper long to figure it was Dalaa, even with his pain addled mind.</p><p>The Nurse Joy let out a small sigh of annoyance as she moved to be in front of Austin’s bed, arms crossed beneath her bosom. Her eyes were narrowed into a glare with such intensity that the male could feel the heat of her anger. “An inch. That’s it. If that attack had been just been one inch closer, you would have lost that eye! Our healing in this world is good, but it isn’t THAT good!”</p><p>“And what was I supposed to do, just run away?” Austin asked. He groaned just a bit as he sat up in bed a bit, wincing at the pain of the several little punctures his body had sustained.</p><p>“<b>YES!</b>” Dalaa nearly screamed, stomping her foot down hard. If the sound of shattering was anything to go by, the pink haired Pokegirl had broken some of the tiling beneath her feet with her little tantrum. Austin gulped a bit as Dalaa continued her tirade. “The moment she had the upper hand, you should have returned Suzuka into her Pokeball and retreated! Instead you charged at her like a damn idiot!”</p><p>The young man gulped down a bit at the anger coming off the woman who had been so sweet to him since he arrived. It wasn’t like he didn’t understand how she felt. Had anyone of his friends or family had gotten into the same situation, he would have been pretty mad too. But this felt like she was going overboard. “I just wanted to do good on the first job, Dalaa.”</p><p>“A stupid job isn’t worth your life, Austin!” The pink-haired nurse snapped, eyes still blazing. “I don’t want <em>another </em>corpse to take care off because you decided to go face first into a feral!</p><p>Austin eyebrows went up at that. “What do you mean another?”</p><p>Dalaa went silent after that, taking a deep breath for a moment to calm herself. She spun around on her heel after that and headed out without another word, slamming the door with enough force to make the wood shake in it’s pane.</p><p>Releasing a small sigh, the AUJ laid his head back down in his bed, wondering. The way that Dalaa reacted wasn’t normal for the girl who seemed so sweet natured. It confused him, but if he was a betting men it had probably to do something either with the girls history or the way this world worked. Perhaps even both.</p><p>He lifted his head again when the door opened once more, Suzuka walking in this time. Unlike the nurse, she was silent as she looked down at her tamer. The red hot fire that had been Dalaa’s rage was nothing compared to the frosted look the Ronin was now giving him. “You didn’t run.” she said softly, her tone quiet.</p><p>“I didn’t want to our first job to be a bust…” Austin stated, the words tasting like ash on his lips. Even he could tell just how weak an excuse it was.</p><p>Suzuka stared at him for a moment longer, lips pursed before nodding softly to him. “Please… don’t do that again. I respect you enough for having risked your life for me once before… I’d rather not it be known that you’re just a halfwit fool with a wish for death.”</p><p>The Jumper nodded, though grumbled a bit at the name calling by his Pokegirl. He got it, men were the squishy ones here. He’d seen enough from the Sideviper alone to get that point across. But that didn’t mean he wasn’t going to try his damnedest to help in a fight. He’d just have to be smarter about in the future, both to save his own skin and to avoid the wrath of the two Pokegirls keeping their eyes out for him.</p><p>“What are we going to do with the Icemaiden?” Suzuka asked, turning her cold gaze away and brushing a lock of hair behind her ear.</p><p>Austin shrugged, sitting up once again in his bed. “What are our options? I know we talked about possibly adding her to the team.”</p><p>“Under normal circumstances it would be that, selling her, or disposing of her. Without a hand not many people, tamers or otherwise, are going to be very eager to acquire her.” The Pokegirl explained, her voice losing some of it’s edge. Her fingers gripped her blade and squeezed tightly as she spoke the next part. “And while killing in the heat of battle is one thing, I will not be a part of killing just to lower the amount of ferals in this world.”</p><p>“Agreed.” Austin told her, feeling ill. He still wasn’t sure where he stood on the Sideviper’s death, the girl still too monster in his mind to be personally effected by it. But if all Pokegirls had the capability to be as human as Dalaa and Suzuka, killing should always be an absolute last resort. The Jumper bit his lip as he mulled over their remaining option. “Will you be ok with her on the team? Will she be ok with us considering we cut her hand off?”</p><p>“Any other Pokegirl will increase the strength of your harem, Austin. Icemaidens are powerful pokegirls in their own right, as we both can attest to. It would be idiocy to be angry at a feral for simply doing what her instincts told her to.” Suzuka said as she stood back up and headed towards the door. She turned her head back towards him as she stood in the portal, a small grin crossing her lips. “As for her caring about being a part of our team, I believe a nice hard taming will be all that’s needed to convince her… In that case is to make sure you give her hot bath before hand, otherwise… shrinkage might be an issue.”</p><p>Cringing slightly at the picture the girl painted, Austin nodded. Suzuka gave a small laugh before leaving the young man alone once more to heal.</p><p>~oOo~</p><p>A weeks time passed slowly for Austin, with most of it spent in his hospital bed. While the powers of a healing Pokegirl left him more than capable of being up and about in two days, eye injuries were still delicate things and Dalaa refused to let him leave until she was certain that no other issues arose. While the AUJ was more than certain that she did it in part to punish him for his stupidity, he wasn’t going to tell her that to her face.</p><p>What that did give him, though, was plenty of time. So the sandy-haired teen spent most of it with his newest capture, the now one handed Icemaiden. The first thing he did, after making sure she didn’t try to turn his hospital room into another frozen cave like she had with the warehouse, was to name her. Avoiding the snow and ice based names that flitted through his head at first, he eventually decided to name her Beryl after some gemstones he had backed in his home dimension, remembering how their color matched closely to that of the girls pale skin.</p><p>He then took Suzuka’s advice, giving Beryl a nice, hot bath. The change in the Pokegirl was almost instant. She went from a silent, stationary girl that occasionally glared at him to a shuddering, moaning mess that was grabbing eagerly for her new tamer. Even with the bath, though, the woman was cool to the touch and required Austin to put his limited erotic skills to the test to keep the girl in a heated state to tame her. After that, he spent most of his time teaching the feral. He focused on how to speak and how to work things one handed.</p><p>It was after the third dropped jug of water on the floor, shards flying everywhere, that Austin was struck by a flash of inspiration. A small smile crossed his face as he looked up at the pale green eyes of his pokegirl. “Beryl?” He asked, grabbing the girls attention.</p><p>“Mast-er?” She answered, struggling still with only half a weeks lessons in English. Such a thing would have been amazing back home, but apparently most Pokegirls were incredibly fast learners, with even most ferals being able to string together words after minimal exposure to humans.</p><p>“Remember before we caught you, how you formed the blade?” Austin asked, pointing to the long, thin scar that now went across his right eye.</p><p>The Pokegirl instantly looked down, clearly upset at the memory. Chuckling, the Jumper lifted her face back up to his with the crook of his index finger, smiling at her. “I’m not upset at you, Beryl, just trust me on this. You remember how you did that?”</p><p>At Beryl’s slow and unsure nod, he grinned even wider. “Alright, I want you to do the same thing as you did before… but I want you to try and form a hand like mine here…” He patted softly at the stump where her hand once lived, hoping the feral understood what he was wanting her to attempt to do.</p><p>Frowning as she worked over his words, the Icemaiden eventually followed her tamers instructions. Closing her eyes and focusing, the cold aura of her power grew for a few minutes before ice eventually formed about her right limb. It slid up the appendage like water before slowly forming into a half splayed hand. She looked down at her new ice hand and lifted it up, turning it right and left to really see it. A small frown and another pulse of her aura went through the air as the frozen fingers slowly but surely closed into a fist that looked more like a block of ice than a hand, but was close enough.</p><p>“I think it might take a bit of training for you to get a real good control over it, but I think it’ll be worth it.” Austin said, giving the Pokegirl a small kiss on her forehead. The ice type couldn’t stop the blush at the small sign of affection, her pale skinned cheeks turning pink.</p><p>~oOo~</p><p>The end of the week proper saw both Austin and Beryl being given full leave from the Pokecenter’s hospital room and back to the tamer’s personal room proper. It was also about the time Suzuka stopped looking at Austin with that cold gaze. He wasn’t sure if it was the simple fact that she missed him or what, but the taming they had the night out of the room was more than enough to convince the Jumper that she had forgiven him.</p><p>Dalaa, on the other hand, was still simmering and would under no circumstance allow Austin to take any more Quests until he had received more lessons from Yuel. While the young man had planned on doing that anyway, he was certain to make sure to do everything the Nurse Joy said less he give her all the more reason to keep him in bed… or to unleash that anger that had required the retiling of his room.</p><p>Taking part of Yuel’s training seminar again, though, meant dealing with Flat Nose Wendell once more, the squat man already making his way towards Austin. “Where’s Suzuka?” the man demanded, glaring daggers at Beryl, the Icemaiden standing beside the Jumper this time around. She looked uncertain at the other tamers anger, bringing her handless arm up close to her body protectively.</p><p>“Not that it matters at all to you, but she’s taking a break today.” Austin shot back, crossing his arms and glaring down at the man at least a head and a half shorter than him. “And I wanted to give my new girl Beryl some of Yuel’s training.”</p><p>Wendell gave the ice type a once over and sneered, showing off his teeth. “What kind of hack tamer are you, getting yourself a banged up girl with a missing limb? I can’t believe a joke like you ended up with Suzuka.”</p><p>Austin felt a flash of anger wash through his mind, the man wanting nothing more than to punch the bastard in his face. The sudden drop in temperature of the field told the AUJ that his Pokegirl was of the same opinion, the ice type’s face taking on that same cold disinterest that she had when she was feral. Forcing a smile on his face, Austin bent down low enough to get right into his face before delivering his threat. “What was it that Nurono said last time? Something about not shooting your mouth off? I think you should probably take that advice before you end up writing a check your mouth can’t cash.</p><p>The squat tamer opened and closed his mouth a few times like a fish before turning and walking off to wait for the Battleaxe, clearly not wanting to get into a fight with the condor Pokegirl. It was with his back turned that Beryl formed another ice hand on her stump, but instead of being the simple fist that she had formed that first day, the middle finger was extended outwards. Austin couldn’t help but let out a bark of laughter at the attitude of his Icemaiden. He was certain that he had made the right choice in keeping her.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This one was a bit tough for me to get out, mostly because I was wanting to get some really good story elements in this chapter… but couldn’t make it work. It’s here that I really learned that you can’t rush a good story and sometimes, you’ve got to take it slower if you want to turn out a good product. You can’t just have fight scene after fight scene and find it that entertains people. Just look at anything Rob Liefeild’s done. Sometimes a breather is what’s needed.</p><p>Oh, and for anyone a little sad that we didn’t get to see a full out and out taming scene with Beryl? Don’t worry about that, I’ve got plans to really show that and, oh boy, is it a dozy!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>